You're a contestant on "Top Chef," the top-rated food show on cable. You have a limited time to pick your ingredients in the hopes of outcooking your fellow chefs.
The clock is ticking, and the verdict of the judges is looming. Whole Foods Market Inc. to the rescue.
That's the story on Wednesday nights, when the show features scenes of the contestants rushing into a Whole Foods and scooping up armloads of produce, picking out fancy cuts of meat or exotic fish, and chatting with store employees.

The Austin-based natural food chain has become the official grocer for "Top Chef," Bravo's 6-year-old hit show. And Whole Foods gets plenty of exposure from the show, which draws about 2 million viewers a week.

The cost to Whole Foods? Nothing beyond the food the contestants use for their dishes and the inconvenience of having a camera crew shooting inside a store.

The three-year partnership between the grocer and the show has been a boon for the grocery chain.
"It's kind of a natural fit," said Kate Lowery, a Whole Foods spokeswoman.
Lowery would not say how much Whole Foods contributes in food each week, but contestants get a fixed amount to spend — sometimes individually, sometimes in teams — as they compete to come up with winning dishes each week and avoid being eliminated.
The amounts vary. In the second episode of the current season, which is set in Las Vegas, the contenders were split into male and female teams, each with an $800 budget to cater parties for a couple getting married.
During the past season, which was shot in New York, the budgets ranged from $100 per chef in one episode to $2,500 in another for teams that had to create entire instant restaurants.

Officials at NBC Universal, which owns the Bravo channel, wouldn't comment. But Lowery said representatives from the show approached Whole Foods about the partnership.
No money is exchanged, and Lowery said the agreement is "pretty loose." For example, there's no agreement that Whole Foods must be mentioned a certain number of times. But it's been a "win-win" partnership for both sides, she said.
"Their viewers are our shoppers, and vice versa," Lowery said.
Industry analysts said the pairing is a savvy move for Whole Foods. ...http://www.statesman.com