BY: Kate Menold and Great Tastes of Manitoba
Great Tastes of Manitoba recently launched a milestone 35th anniversary season. The television series and digital brand has been entertaining and educating Manitobans about locally grown agricultural commodities since the early 1990s. Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers (MPSG) has been involved in the show since nearly the beginning.
Great Tastes, currently airing on CTV, is the longest running, locally produced television series in Manitoba. The series was conceptualized by a group of marketing representatives from various producer groups and was originally coordinated by Food Manitoba and Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development. The goal was to encourage Manitobans to purchase and cook with Manitoba grown ingredients. What started on Videon Cable grew to become Manitoba’s most-watched cooking series airing on prime-time broadcast television. In total, the series has provided more than 20 farmer-directed commodity organizations an opportunity to improve consumer awareness about their products.
The series has evolved over the years, featuring many different hosts including Hal Anderson, Joey Gregorash, Iris Walsh, Jim Ingebrigtsen and Ace Burpee, and is currently hosted by popular Winnipeg media personality, Dez Daniels.
In celebration of their 20th season Great Tastes published a cookbook that went on to become a best-seller. In celebration of their 30th anniversary season in 2018, producers decided it was time to take the show on the road. The goal was to give Manitobans an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the farms and farm families behind growing the locally produced ingredients being cooked with on the show. Since then, every episode of Great Tastes includes a story direct from Manitoba’s agricultural community.
The 35th anniversary season will connect consumers with our province’s nutritious, affordable ingredients and the passionate people who produce them. For this monumental season, MPSG contracted food expert, Getty Stewart, professional home economist, to create recipes and showcase them on air. Stewart does such a great job creating and sharing simple, nutritious recipes, giving a few key tips along the way. Great Tastes producers have also partnered with Manitoba Ag Days to create a series of documentaries about the community of passionate people who work in Manitoba’s agricultural and agri-food sector called, Produced on the Prairies.
“In past seasons, we have primarily showcased folks who work in food production – livestock and grain farmers – from across the province. We’ve compiled over 70 stories about farms and agricultural communities and everyone we’ve met has been so welcoming and genuine in their passion for what they do” says Great Tastes Senior Producer, Donalee Jones. “Sharing the stories, not only of the food produced on the prairies but of all the ways agriculture impacts the life of an average Manitoban, is a great opportunity.” Viewers will get an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at a world of agriculture that goes beyond the farm gate.
The series also has a fresh look for season 35 and the brand has expanded beyond the Saturday evening television broadcast. Full episodes of Great Tastes can also be viewed across Canada on The Rural Channel, and content is released all week long on the Great Tastes social media channels.
“YouTube viewing is much more accessible now than it was even five years ago,” explains Jones. “It’s not just for short-format videos anymore. Streaming long-form content on YouTube and other platforms is much more common now thanks to the popularity of smart TVs.” This presents an opportunity to inspire more Manitobans to cook with local ingredients and provide a closer connection between them and the food on their plates.
Greattastesmb.ca is home to over 600 recipes and 70 stories about the people who work in agriculture that home cooks can access anytime. Full episodes of the show going all the way back to season 21 can be streamed on the website as well. Ninety-one per cent of Great Tastes viewers have tried a recipe from the show at home and 99 per cent say they were happy with the results.
The series is produced by Frank Digital with funding provided by the Government of Canada and Manitoba Agriculture through the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership and Manitoba’s farmers and ranchers through their non-profit industry associations: Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers, Manitoba Beef Producers, Hello Canola, Manitoba Chicken, Manitoba Crop Alliance, Manitoba Pork and Manitoba Turkey Producers.
Season 35 of Great Tastes airs on CTV Winnipeg, Saturday’s at 6:30 p.m. CST. Full episodes of Great Tastes can be streamed on demand at greattastesmb.ca or on the @GreatTastesTV YouTube channel. To watch MPSG sponsored episodes, visit the Great Tastes website or tune in on May 29 and June 5, 2025. You can follow along with exclusive behind-the-scenes content, recipe tips, meal plans and more at @GreatTastesMB on Facebook and Instagram.