Bravo Cooking Up 'Top Chef' Entrees

Bravo has made a marketing deal with ConAgra Foods in
which the main course is the creation of a new line of frozen Top Chef entrées.

The new line, called Healthy Choice Top Chef Inspired Café Steamers, will begin appearing in grocery
stores later this month.

Marketing for ConAgra includes an original web series
called Top Chef Healthy Showdown
which will appear on BravoTV.com. The series premieres Sept. 14. There will
also be integration in the upcoming season of Top Chef: Texas, with ConAgra products being part of an elimination
challenge and the company providing prizes for the series and individual
episodes. The companies expect that in the future, there will be more products
inspired by Top Chef.

"This partnership builds upon the success of both the Top Chef franchise and the Healthy
Choice brand and provides a unique opportunity to connect with consumers,"
Frances Berwick, President Bravo and Style Media, said in a statement.  "We're constantly developing ways to engage
our fans and viewers beyond the television screen, and this collaboration will
take Bravo to the next level while jointly elevating and strengthening both the
Top Chef and Healthy Choice
brands." 

The Healthy Choice Top
Chef
Inspired Café Steamers will bring consumers frozen entrées with
flavorful ingredients such as roasted garlic, asparagus and grilled eggplant.

"Top Chef is
known for inspiring consumers with great tasting meals. This line of Top Chef Inspired Café Steamers combines
unique ingredients with our proprietary steaming technology into meals that aim
to satisfy any palate," said Carlos Veraza, VP and general manager, Healthy
Choice. "We work tirelessly to inspire consumers with a variety of great
tasting, better-for-you frozen entrées. Healthy Choice is proud to partner with
Bravo Media to bring consumers a wide variety of meals that capture the essence
of Top Chef flavor, with the healthy
attributes and great taste consumers expect from Healthy Choice."

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.