Battle of the Chefs’ goes international

AFTER the resounding success of “Battle of The Chefs Harare” (#BC2016), organisers of the reality show are now planning to expand it to other African countries.

The second season which was concluded earlier this month saw Leandrah Makaya being named the best cook after a gruelling 13 weeks that involved 35 challenges. She walked away US$10 000 richer after outperforming 15 other finalists.

At a recent press conference, #BC2016 founder, Joseph Bunga said: “We’re excited to reveal that we’ll be working to launch ‘Battle of the Chefs Nairobi’ as we expand into other African countries. So this August I’ll be in Kenya to make sure we get Season One of that show rolling.”

He thanked the show’s sponsors — TM Pick n Pay for their support adding that they hoped to introduce a Battle of the Chefs Zimbabwe which would incorporate people from all cities.

“Anyone who watched Season One will testify to the tremendous difference between the two seasons in terms of quality and it’s all due to the support of our sponsor.

“We’d have loved to do ‘Battle of the Chefs Zimbabwe’ but we feel we don’t have the capacity to do so right now. We’re still growing and refining our skills but we’re working towards that,” Bunga said.

However, interested candidates from other parts of Zimbabwe are free to participate in the Harare edition.

“Those interested can still apply even if they are responsible for their accommodation if they get shortlisted as finalists,” said Bunga.

He said they were already hard at work preparing for the third edition with applications already being called for. If all goes according to plan, Season Three must kick off in November.

“We’re now open for applications for our third season that’ll run under the same format as Season Two. However, Season Three will be focusing mostly on professional chefs though we might accommodate a few amateurs.”

For the just ended second season, organisers of the reality show raised $150 000 from private equity investors, enabling them to create what was certainly one of the best TV productions in the country. The concept of Battle of the Chefs is similar to MasterChef or South Africa’s Ultimate Braai Master — revenues are based on an advertising model.

It remains to be seen whether MultiChoice will once again lure Battle of the Chefs for screening on their Zambezi Magic regional pay TV channel after organisers initially refused to have the show on that platform citing that the offer was too low.

However, TM Pick n Pay will once again support Season Three as the show has a twoyear contract with the supermarket.