Media: World conquest on menu for Annabel Langbein to develop her brand in the manner of Jamie Oliver.

Photo / Babiche Martens

New Zealand is getting its own Julia Child. Cooking and food writer Annabel Langbein has signed an international licensing deal with international television distributor Fremantle Media Enterprises.

By John Drinnan Writing in The Business Herald, Friday Nov 06, 2009

Annabel Langbein says the deal will enable her to starts with a 13-part TV series based around Central Otago.
But Langbein - who stresses she is a home cook and not a chef - said Fremantle had indicated it was focused on developing her brand.
"I call it global domination by spatula," she said.
Called Free Range Cooking With Annabel Langbein, the series was filming this week. The show is being made by TVNZ, which will have New Zealand broadcast rights.
But it will be Langbein who owns the show rights and who will benefit if and when sales kick off around the world. Langbein has developed a strong brand for her cookery books and also online.
Fremantle - which distributes some of the most successful TV shows in the world - could not be reached at print time.
But Langbein said Fremantle saw the New Zealand locale - with its reputation for freshness - as a selling point.
The series will be produced by Dana Youngman, a former head of the TVNZ internal production unit.
Langbein pointed to other cooking brands Fremantle had developed, such as Jamie Oliver and Martha Stewart. Her publishing manager is Debra Millar, former publishing boss at ACP Magazines New Zealand.