“Coles, the major sponsor of Channel 10’s MasterChef, has reported rushes on ingredients and kitchen equipment featured on the show.

Coles General Manager Corporate Affairs, Robert Hadler, said the featured recipes on the show could be directly linked to increased sales.

“There was a 30 per cent uplift in sales of our MasterChef meat for the stroganoff overnight,” he said.

Other featured products have shown strong sales increases, including rib roasts (up 200%), salmon fillets (up 74%) and diced pork (up 480%). Sales of exotic ingredients like spices, rabbit and lamb brains have all gone up after being featured.

In addition to the recipes used by contestants, Coles’ tie-in marketing campaign with chef Curtis Stone has brought results.

“We have seen dramatic surges in sales of ingredients in the Curtis Stone and MasterChef recipes in the last few months,” Hadler said.

The ‘Feed your family’ campaign features recipes costing under $10 for four serves, cross-promoted on the MasterChef website.

The MasterChef website also features a built-in Coles printable shopping list with branded ingredients from Coles and co-sponsors.

Coles appears to have successfully weathered its role in the elimination of contestant Philip Vakos, who found himself in a sudden-death taste-test elimination after his planned spanakopita dish had to be rethought when his Coles filo pastry, bought just hours before, proved to be past its use-by date.

Coles is rumoured to have paid as much as $3 million for the MasterChef sponsorship rights.

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