Gaining public recognition from the government is often difficult. However in the October Trademark, Austrade’s monthly e-newsletter of Australian export success stories, Austrade talks about the success
of Dining Downunder.

The article is an interview with the Executive Producer and Presenter Vic Cherikoff who talks about success with Australian Native Cuisine Promotions and the broadcasting of the series throughout Asia as well as the future.

The article is online here, otherwise an extract of the article is below.

Cuisine from Dining Downunder™ goes international - An Australian export case study

A television series featuring native Australian cuisine cooked at iconic Australian locations has recently started on the ABC Asia Pacific network, reaching into approximately 10 million homes across 30 countries.

Dining Downunder™, a joint venture between Sydney chef and businessman Vic Cherikoff and Canadian company, Bailey Park Productions, is as much about promoting Australian cuisine as it is in promoting landmarks such as Bondi Beach, the Blue Mountains and Margaret River.

The program revolves around three chef presenters, Vic Cherikoff, Benjamin Christie and Mark McCluskey, who take their inspiration from native Australian flavoured dishes. They prepare the food in a studio kitchen after travelling around the country talking with other chefs in their kitchens.

Mr Cherikoff said the series was generating substantial interest overseas because people generally don’t know much about Australian cuisine.

“There is an abundance of food ingredients that are quintessentially Australian that help define Australian cooking,” Mr Cherikoff said.

“This includes tangy fruits from our rainforests, aromatic herbs and pungent spices from our woodlands and other amazing flavours purely native to Australia and both, foraged and cultivated from our coasts to the outback deserts.

“These ingredients are not only being used in Australia, they are also being embraced by Chinese, Italian, Thai and French restaurants, both here and overseas. This is why Dining Downunder™ has so much appeal in overseas markets.”

Dining Downunder™ went to air in Asia last month, and is scheduled for screening in the US and Canada in April next year. It is also being marketed across Europe and into Africa and South America arousing a global movement for Australia’s authentic cuisine and chefs. The show is supported with Australian food promotions in hotels, resorts, on cruise ships and airlines.

Mr Cherikoff said Dining Downunder™ is a fantastic vehicle to attract culinary tourism to Australia and promote the products of their sponsor companies.

“We’re in a unique position to take advantage of the media trend of associative marketing of products within the structure of a relevantly themed show,” he said.

“We also run in-store promotions for our partner companies’ products, which include Buderim Ginger, Yarras Olive Products, Australian Artisinal, Bega Cheese, Easi-yo and New Zealand Natural, to name just a few and we’re currently looking to expand this list as our profile builds in the Asia Pacific and then globally.”

Mr Cherikoff said he was particularly targeting Eastern Europe, which he sees as having significant potential.

“We’ve held Australian food promotions in Prague and a cooking demonstration for an event venue in Essen, north of Dusseldorf, after which distributors were enlisted for both The Czech Republic and Germany. We have standing invitations to hold promotions in St Petersburg, Budapest, Malta, Belgium and The Netherlands but are organising to initially support the show’s Asian broadcasts and look to Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and established business in Singapore and Hong Kong. We will re-focus on Europe next year.

“Austrade provided a great deal of help in setting up the Prague promotion for which we are most grateful to Senior Trade Commissioner, Petr Vodvarka, for his untiring support and assistance,” Mr Cherikoff said.

“Nowhere else has Austrade been of such value.  The Prague experience has brought me back to reviewing Austrade’s potential contribution to my business. I’ve recently found more Austrade gems scattered across the globe, people who clearly want to help smaller exporters and I am happy to offer my recommendations to other companies which might contact me for referrals,” he said.