Describing himself as a cook rather than a chef, Bonello explained: "During the filming of Cooked's fourth season I realised I had to up my game. I became increasingly concerned with the question of where our food comes from. I began to think about what South Africans are being fed, what is in the food they eat and where it comes from.
"The focus in Season 5 is to educate people about what they are eating and highlight where the produce comes from. And who better than Woolworths (which is sponsoring this fifth season of Cooked), to guide me on my search?"
"We relished the opportunity to show South Africans where the food they buy from us comes from," explained Woolworths group director of marketing, Charmaine Huet. "We've been telling our customers for years about all the things we do on our good food journey. Now we're giving them the chance to get a behind-the-scenes guided tour of some of our farms, so they can see for themselves how our fruit and vegetables are grown in harmony with nature, how our free range animals are cared for."
In Cooked 5's 13 episodes, Bonello travels to the far corners of South Africa and introduces viewers to some of the farms, wineries and fisheries that supply food to Woolworths. These include:
Bonello also visits a couple of the farms where Woolies free-range eggs and chickens are produced, and visits Namibia to see where its free-range beef comes from.
To explore these and other origins of Woolworths good food, tune in to Cooked 5 with Justin Bonello on Fridays from 12 November, 2010, on DSTV's BBC Lifestyle channel.