Canadian specialty net moves into distribution

Canadian specialty channel Gusto is launching a programme sales arm that will make its market debut at MIPTV next month.

Privately-owned food and lifestyle net Gusto launched in late 2013, providing Shaw and Scripps-owned Food Network with competition.

It has committed to producing several original series and 100 hours of 4K content this year and will now start shopping that internationally.

For MIP it will have two original series, One World Kitchen and A is for Apple. Each is thirty instalments and comes packaged with 100-plus shortform webisodes.

“As a broadcaster ourselves we understand the multi-platform universe, which is why our series are available in both 4K and HD, with original webisodes,” said Chris Knight, CEO and founder, Gusto TV.

“Our trendy, edgy series are made for people who love food, by people who love food, and we’re excited to be launching them at MIPTV,”he added.

In One World Kitchen (pictured) five cooks explore five global cuisines: Argentine, Japanese, Indian, Italian and Thai. The other show, A is for Apple, is, according to Knight in a recent interview with TBI, a “foodie homage to Sesame Street“.

The lighthearted half-hour show takes a letter of the alphabet and explores ingredients that start with that letter and brings together disparate foodstuffs.

There will be two more originals this autumn and three more next spring and with the benefits of being a Canadian channel operator, copros are also in the offing, Knight said.