Flora launches TV show with Jean-Christophe Novelli and Matt Tebbutt

As part of the Flora mission to help 100 million people lower their ‘Heart Age’ by 2020, Flora has joined forces with Jean-Christophe Novelli and Matt Tebbutt to launch a new primetime television programme, ‘Family Food Fight with Flora’.

The Flora team is calling on the foodservice industry to support the campaign by using free Flora recipes created to support the initiative to encourage consumers to make healthy everyday choices.

The series, being aired on Channel 5, will see the two celebrity chefs go head-to-head to train two families to make healthier family favourites. The families will then cook the dishes for diners at a central London restaurant before they are asked to vote for their favourite dishes. The aim is to inspire the nation to do little, everyday things to keep their Heart Age young.

Clare Logan, category mix manager (UK/IRE) at Unilever Foodsolutions , commented: "It's not always easy to eat healthily, so we're hoping the recipes and advice offered on 'Family Food Fight with Flora', will really help consumers. It's not just about in home though, we feel that there's a job to be done out of home too, which is why we're encouraging chefs and caterers to join the campaign.

"With so much media attention around diet and health, consumers are starting to expect healthier choices when eating out of home and it's down to us to ensure firstly, that the choice is available and secondly, that the dishes taste just as good as more indulgent options.

"It's been suggested that about 80% of heart disease and strokes could be prevented by positive lifestyle changes such as eating a healthy diet. By simply replacing a portion of butter with a portion of Flora Original the saturated fat content in that portion can be reduced by 78%– Flora also contains the essential fats Omega 3 & 6. From a chef experiment, 'Dispelling the Myth', that we recently undertook, we know that chefs have preconceptions about using alternatives to butter, but after the experiment, most of the chefs said that they would now consider using Flora Buttery in their cooking. All of the dishes made with Flora Buttery were rated better for taste than those made with butter ."

Jean-Christophe Novelli said: "More and more chefs are being asked to cater for different types of diet and, with health a key issue for consumers, chefs need to be more aware of the healthy alternatives available. The Family Food Fight with Flora campaign will help chefs that want to offer their customers healthier options without compromising on flavour."

Flora is calling for chefs and caterers to support the initiative by using healthier versions of well-loved recipes for a minimum of one week. The bank of over 50 recipes is available to download at floraheartageforchefs.com. Caterers can also register for Flora POS, to show their customers that they support the television show, and can win £500 of energy efficient catering equipment.

Words: Clare Riley

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