• Austin American-Statesman, Wednesday, September 23, 2009 10:37 AM

Whole Foods, the official grocer for Bravo's six-year-old hit show "Top Chef," gets plenty of exposure for nothing more than the food the contestants use for their dishes and the inconvenience of having a camera crew shooting inside a store, Brian Gaar reports.

"It's kind of a natural fit," says Kate Lowery, a Whole Foods spokeswoman, about the three-year-old "win-win" partnership. No money is exchanged, and Lowery says the agreement is "pretty loose." For example, there's no agreement that Whole Foods must be mentioned a certain number of times. "Their viewers are our shoppers, and vice versa," she says.

The partnership is "brilliant," similar to Home Depot's partnerships with home improvement shows, says Al Meyers, svp of the retail consulting and market research firm Retail Forward. Other pairings include Sears' sponsorship of the most recent season of "Design Star" on HGTV and Kmart's partnership with Martha Stewart.

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