When mum Renae Bunster met Gordon Ramsay for the first time, there was just one word to describe how she felt.
Nervous.
Ramsay’s iconic red-faced rants and heated rage-fuelled altercations are what have made him both so beloved and feared at the same time.
Watching any of his greatest television moments on Kitchen Nightmares, Hotel Hell, Hell’s Kitchen and 24 Hours To Hell And Back is enough to send any foodie into a frenzy when they come face-to-face with the legend himself.
Well, that is exactly the situation that Renae, from Perth, found herself in recently, as she stood in front of Gordon Ramsay and Boost Juice founder Janine Allis on Australia’s latest television sensation, Food Stars.
The new program is most commonly described as being just like Shark Tank but exclusively for food products, where Ramsay and Allis hunt high and low for Australia’s most exciting and innovating new culinary ideas.
Cradling her spicy brainchild, Bunsters Hot Sauce, the 46-year-old could not believe what she was about to say.
“The biggest seller is ‘Sh*t The Bed’,” she smiled, as a look of utter disgust mixed with sheer confusion washed over Ramsay’s face.
“Say that again,” the celebrity chef replied.
“We make a sauce called ‘Sh*t The Bed’ ” Renae confirmed, smiling.
“Sh*t the bed? But no one wants to sh*t the bed after having hot sauce over a f**king chicken wing,” Ramsay winced
“Gordon, you would think that. But it has been a number 1 bestseller on Amazon USA multiple times,” Renae replied with confidence.
“We sell thousands of bottles.”
After a moment of silence, Ramsay’s tune changed. His ears perked up. His eyes lit up.
He was ready to Sh*t The Bed.
“Wow, that’s a big sell,” he replied, looking impressed.
“I have no intention of sh*tting the best tonight, but I’d like to try some.”
After an awkward minute of Ramsay looking like he might pass away and Renae afraid he might sue her for burning his tongue off, it happened.
“It’s a yes to ‘Sh*t The Bed’, welcome to Team Gordon,” he beamed.
‘Changed my life’
Although Renae was eliminated from Food Stars over a Chiko Roll poster drama, she remains thankful to the show for the incredible opportunity so showcase her product.
The British celebrity chef shared a clip of his and Renae’s interaction over the Bunster’s ‘Sh*t The Bed’ hot sauce on his official TikTok page, racking up over 2.6 million views.
This incredible move has had a dramatic impact on Renae’s business, which she said has been absolutely soaring ever since.
“Gordon has absolutely changed my life. Getting in front of his 40 million TikTok fans has been the biggest boost for business,” she said.
“We’ve got sales guys selling Bunsters all over the world and now they are able to point at Gordon’s TikTok and say ‘Look he liked it’.
“A Singaporean supermarket chain reached out this week asking to be our exclusive stockist there because they saw it. We raced up the Amazon USA hot sauce list when it happened and made a load of sales in The States.
“Our sales in Woolies have gone up since Channel 9 started promoting the show. Even Coles has reached out and asked us to pitch. They sound very keen on giving us a national range.
“So Gordon’s seal of approval has already made my business soar. Absolutely life changing.”
The truth about Gordon Ramsay
Although she was a bit nervous about meeting Gordon Ramsay in real life, Renae said she was relieved to find out he was actually a “big softie”.
“He really just wants to crack everyone up all the time,” she smiled.
“I know it’s disappointing to hear, but he’s actually very nice and making a show like Food Stars shows you that he’s just a big softie who wants to give back.
“When he tested my product, I was kind of scared he’d chuck a massive fit about me ruining his palate.
“I was nervous about him saying it was awful too. That is never good for business.
“I think the fact we’ve been a number one bestseller really won him over. He does Food Stars in the USA with a bunch of American entrepreneurs and none of them can claim that number 1 bestseller status.
“He was impressed by that.”
Renae added that one of the most important and meaningful moments for her during her time on the show was to hear that Ramsay enjoyed her hot sauce.
“Anyone who owns a food business just wants Gordon Ramsay to eat it and say that it is good and he did.
“I didn’t really care about winning the show. There were other businesses there that needed the prize-money more than I did.
“I just wanted to make a video that was funny enough to get shared on Gordon’s TikTok, and that is exactly what I did.
“I couldn’t have wished for anything more. Everything has blown up since that share.”
Renae has a background in television journalism, working for news organisations like Reuters, the BBC, CNN and AP.
She said she “knew nothing” about cooking and did not even like chili that much until she went bacpacking around Mexico and Central America in 2011.
This is where here love of hot sauce began and sparked an idea that would change the course of her career, launching Bunster’s Hot Sauce in 2012.
“I discovered flavour-packed sauces with weird stuff in them like carrots and corriander,” she said.
More Coverage
“When I got back to Perth, I bought all the hot sauces in the supermarket but they all pretty much tasted like different version of tabasco.
“So I started making my own. I gave some away to friends, and when they came back and asked to buy some off me, this business fell into my lap.
“Chuck in a silly name and a few scorpian chillies and here we are, on TV with Gordon Ramsay, on his TikTok and my sauced stoked in Woolworths.”
https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiggFodHRwczovL3d3dy5uZXdzLmNvbS5hdS9lbnRlcnRhaW5tZW50L3R2L21vbWVudC1nb3Jkb24tcmFtc2F5LWNoYW5nZWQtdGhpcy13b21hbnMtbGlmZS9uZXdzLXN0b3J5L2Q5ZWUxYjJmMTM5NTViODI4MTNiZTM0MWM3ZDQwZWNi0gEA?oc=5
2024-04-08 05:26:15Z
CBMiggFodHRwczovL3d3dy5uZXdzLmNvbS5hdS9lbnRlcnRhaW5tZW50L3R2L21vbWVudC1nb3Jkb24tcmFtc2F5LWNoYW5nZWQtdGhpcy13b21hbnMtbGlmZS9uZXdzLXN0b3J5L2Q5ZWUxYjJmMTM5NTViODI4MTNiZTM0MWM3ZDQwZWNi0gEA
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar