http://huddle.today/new-brunswick-businesses-getting-spotlight-on-amazing-race-canada-tonight/New Brunswick Businesses Getting Spotlight on Amazing Race Canada Tonight
Sep 6, 2016
by Cherise Letson
SAINT JOHN – Three New Brunswick businesses will be featured on national television Tuesday night.
Crosby’s Molasses, Moosehead Breweries and Kingsbrae Garden will be making appearances on the semi-final episode of the Amazing Race Canada tonight at 9 p.m AST on CTV.
Though the challenges the contestants will be doing with the companies is still under wraps, what’s not is the excitement that’s been building since the businesses were first approached by the show last winter.
“[The production company] reached out by email and just said they were producing a reality TV show and they wanted to talk to us about out involvement,” says Bridgett Oland, marketing director and recipe developer for Crosby’s. “Everything was in code at the beginning, until my first official meeting with the contact who had reached out and that’s when she let me know that it was Amazing Race Canada and we started into the details.”
Though the company can’t disclose the challenge itself, Oland said did reveal the Crosby’s challenge is very hands-on. She said the process of filming the episode was a “tremendous experience.” The crew and contestants were all kind and friendly, but of course very focused.
“It was such a thrill to be part of the show. As you can imagine, it’s a high-energy program. There’s tension and excitement building the entire time,” she says. “The teams came running into the plant, they’re rushing to complete their challenge. But you can’t hurry molasses so that created more tension, then they were running out.”
For Moosehead President Patrick Oland, it was fascinating to see the huge amount of work that goes into a show that seems flawlessly produced when viewers finally watch it at home.
“It’s amazing how flexible and how fast they work in terms of setting up all their equipment and how clever they are at figuring out the right lighting and sound, all different parts of the operation working outside a regular studio,” he says. “It’s amazing the number of hours they do. They would show us some playback of the film and it’s really cool to see our own place on TV and how it looks. It’s something we look at every day, but it always looks a little different when they do it.”
Bridgett Oland says being featured on a national high-rated program like Amazing Race Canada will help bring Crosby’s products to a new audience.
“People from across the country don’t necessarily know that we’re a Canadian company. It’s generation family owned, New Brunswick company, so that exposure lets us share that message coast to coast. But it also helps us share that message with a customer demographic we’re working to grow. Many of consumer market initiatives have been aimed at reintroducing or in many cases introducing molasses to a young audience. So being featured on Amazing Race Canada really helps to nudge that along.”
Patrick Oland says being featured on the show isn’t just good publicity, but also show’s the company’s pride in where they are from.
“We find sometimes some people are not quite aware where we are from. Some people think we’re from Northern Ontario and other places like that,” he says. “Not everyone knows where Saint John is. We’re very proud to be from here and anything that connects us to the pride of the city is great.”
