Chocorn takes out Recipe to Riches title
Wednesday, 13 November 2013: Last night,
Garth Midgley of Clarinda, Victoria was revealed as
the series winner of Network Ten’s innovative
entertainment series, Recipe to Riches, with his
culinary creation, Chocorn.
Based on a much-loved home recipe, Garth’s
chocolate-coated popcorn was announced the series
winner, after achieving the highest commercial
success.
Woolworths will now commence production of the
highly popular Chocorn, which is due to hit shelves in
the New Year.
Garth battled it out against 10 other episode winners and a total of 33 selected dishes to secure the grand prize of
$100,000 and a life changing deal to have his product stocked in Woolworths stores.
Based on the highest sell through percentage on their products, Garth’s Chocorn came up against Vicki CameronSmith’s (QLD) Sweet Billies and Connie Tavella’s (NSW) Concetta’s Croqs to take out the title of Australia’s first Recipe
to Riches winner.
Garth said of his win, “I never expected this would happen when I first came up with the idea of Chocorn. The whole
Recipe to Riches experience has been amazing. To think that an idea I came up with at the movies when mixing a
choctop with popcorn will now be available at every Woolies store around the country is unbelievably exciting!”
Thanks to Garth, Aussies will never need to choose between chocolate and popcorn again. Chocorn takes popcorn to a
new, indulgent level, with a selection of expertly coated popped kernels in three luxurious flavours – sweet white
chocolate with macadamia nuts, creamy milk chocolate with roasted hazelnut and rich dark chocolate with fleur de sel.
These sweet treats are a must try for chocoholics and a perfect snack to enjoy anytime of the day.
Lizzy Ryley, General Manager for Customer Loyalty at Woolworths commented, “All of the products from Recipe to
Riches have been a huge success. Each week we’ve seen customers coming into store specifically to get a taste of the
innovations from the show, and we’re sure Chocorn will be a huge success in 2014.”
For more information on Recipe to Riches visit www.woolworths.com.au/recipetoriches
-ENDS-
Notes to editors:
Recipe To Riches was an innovative series that took much-loved home recipes from everyday Australians and turned
them into top-selling products on the shelves of Woolworths supermarkets.
The 12-part series lifted the lid on the food we buy and gave viewers an insight into a recipe’s journey from its creator’s
kitchen, through to large scale production, branding, product launch, and finally to supermarket shelves.
Each episode, three budding food entrepreneurs were guided, mentored and judged by our experts: Carman’s Fine
Foods owner Carolyn Creswell, advertising guru David ‘Nobby’ Nobay and renowned chef Darren Robertson.
The team helped the contestants battle it out to see if their product could reach the 18 million customers who pass
through Woolworths’ 900 stores every week.
Each episode featured three different contestants who competed in a particular category such as Man Food, Desserts
or Condiments.
Viewers could follow the contestants as they “batched up” their dishes to see if their recipe could be produced on a
mass scale, and then devised a brand for their product in a brand workshop to create a product launch strategy.
The experts were then joined by Lizzy Ryley, General Manager of Customer Loyalty at Woolworths, to choose the
winner. Together, they decided which product had the best chance of succeeding on supermarket shelves, based on the
contestant’s performance during batch-up, branding and the product launch, as well as Woolies customer feedback.
Each week’s winner then saw their product on the shelves of Woolworths the day after the episode aired, with viewers
across Australia literally able to taste the result of the contestant’s work the very next day.
Recipe To Riches was a FremantleMedia Australia production for TEN.
How the competition worked:
Each self-contained episode began with three contestants and ended with one winner, whose product was sold on the
shelves of Woolworths supermarkets the day after their episode screened. There were four main elements to each
episode: Batch Up, Branding, Product Launch, and the Final Decision.
Batch up: In the Batch Up Kitchen contestants cooked a commercial quantity of their recipe to see if it could make the
successful transition from dining table to mass production. They were given ample time to batch up and were observed
and encouraged by our experts, as well as ‘kitchen commando’ Eddie. Our experts then tasted their products,
deliberated on their mass-market appeal and decided which two contestants would proceed – and which one left the
competition.
Branding: Demystifying the marketing and branding of food, the next stage saw the two remaining contestants
concentrate on the visual and branding identity of their product in the Brand Workshop. Nobby helped them identify
their ‘brand’, how to entice shoppers to buy their product and how their ‘story’ could influence consumers’ attachment
to the product. They used a story box that contains mementos, photos and personal treasures that are close to a
contestant’s heart as inspiration. They undertook market research, and met with logo and packaging design experts to
bring their brand to life.
Product launch: The two contestants took their product to the public in a launch tailor-made for their recipe. Using
ideas and feedback from the Brand Workshop, they aimed to capture the attention and enthusiasm of the public by
targeting their key audience. They themed the launch, effectively hosting a party with their product as the centrepiece.
The public taste tested the product and provided feedback on whether they would buy it at a supermarket. The experts
then assessed whether the launch targeted the right audience, how well the recipe was received and if the branding
worked.
Final decision: Lizzy and the experts gave the contestants feedback on their products, including that received from the
Woolworths Sensory Kitchen, which consisted of a group of everyday Australians whose taste buds reflect the
Australian palette. The experts and Lizzy discussed the strengths and weaknesses of the final two products, before
delivering their verdict to the contestants. The contestant deemed to have the most appealing product would thensee
their product on Woolworths shelves the very next day.