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Is Supermarket Stakeout Staged? Filming Locations and Set Design Revealed

The popular television show of Food Network Supermarket Stakeout premiered on August 2019
The popular television show of Food Network Supermarket Stakeout premiered on August 2019( Source : twitter )

Is Supermarket Stakeout Staged? No, Supermarket Stakeout is not entirely staged.

The American cooking competition shows Supermarket Stakeout airs on Food Network Channel. Alex Guarnascheli is the program's host.

The show first premiered on August 13, 2019. Four chefs are challenged to make meals from ingredients they buy at a neighborhood grocery in each episode.

The competition consists of three rounds and is judged by a panel of two judges. Each contestant has a budget of $500 to buy the groceries.

The host of the show Alex is an American chef, cookbook author, and television personality. She also worked as an executive chef at The Darby restaurant.

Alex Guarnascheli also appears in various Food Network reality shows like The Kitchen, Chopped, Iron Chef America, All-Star Family Cook-off, and The Best Thing I Ever Ate.


Is Supermarket Stakeout Real?

No, the Food Network competition show Supermarket Stakeout is not real. It has been exposed by one of the Redditors.

Per Reddit, the show is not a reality show as her neighbor's son worked on the set of the Food Network show as a crew member.

The worker of the show elaborated that the production team shot the episode many months ago before airing it on the channel.

Everything is planned in advance in the show, the supposed customers arrive on the set for hair and makeup before the filming starts.

Each cart is assembled by the production team, and for each round, customers are asked to line up next to the cart that belongs to them. 

The time for each customer with a cart to come out and get approached by the contestants has been fixed.

The Food Network reality show contestants have to prove themselves in three different round of the show
The Food Network reality show contestants have to prove themselves in three different round of the show( Source : twitter )

The Redditor even mentioned other facts about the show being scripted which created speculations among its viewers.

Each episode requires the four chefs to prepare meals using particular ingredients they buy from shoppers at a nearby supermarket.

The one chef who is able to complete the task given by the host wins the competition as well as the prize money of $10,000.

Now the Redditor has added a few speculated questions about the show, like how 2-3 customers come out simultaneously and never more than that.

Similarly, none of the grocery items are frozen, they don't wash the vegetables, and those groceries are ready to cook.

The customers do not look like a regular buyer and their looks are super good and fresh as if they are just out of the salon.

Some of the commentators were happy to know that the show is scripted as they felt uneasy watching approaching strangers.

While there were some fans who were defending the show as being real and that only real people are in the competition.

There were a few people who said that TV shows are scripted to make them interesting, however not everything is fake which makes it fun to watch the show.

Where Is Supermarket Stakeout Filmed?

The Supermarket Stakeout is filmed outside the local supermarket in California and Arizona. There is no particular set and it is an outdoor shoot.

Season 1 of the popular reality television show Supermarket Stakeout was shot in Southern California, the United States.

The show was mostly shot in Hermosa Beach and Thousand Oaks in Lazy Acres, Gelson's, and Bristol Farms store.

In season 2, the show took place in Arizona and in California which is known for its rich culture and beautiful scenery.

The local supermarkets where the episode was shot are Fry's Market, Smith's Marketplace, Ralphs, Bashas, and Bristol Farms.

Similarly, every episode of season 3 of Supermarket Stakeout was shot in Canoga Park, California in the same supermarket named Fields Market.

Season 4 of the show was shot in TBD Market, Phoenix Arizona. The season consists of a total of 20 episodes of the supermarket show.

The contestand have to cook their food in the parking lot of local supermarket
The contestand have to cook their food in the parking lot of local supermarket( Source : twitter )

The contestants cook the food in the parking lot as challenged by the host Alex, each episode consists of a particular theme. 

They have a total of 45 minutes to buy ingredients, prepare, cook, and serve for three different judges. 

The contestants will be featured in three rounds of competition. They have to negotiate with the customer without knowing what's inside the bag in the first round.

In the second round, customers can buy the products and the chef can look at the items the contestant will be getting before negotiating.

And finally, the contestants will get to purchase five ingredients. They can even approach multiple shoppers until they get what they want.

The contestants who fail to get what they want in each episode will get eliminated after the end of the themed episode.

And to win the show the remaining two chefs will compete against each other to win the prize amount as well as the title.

They will be judged on their presentation, and how closely they were able to complete the task.

Supermarket Stakeout Season 5 So Far

Food Network reality show Supermarket Stakeout season 5 premiered on April 25, 2023. It was available to watch on the channel at 9:00 pm EST.

In this brand new season, a new team of professional chefs joined the show with Alex Guarnaschelli as the host with new different challenges.

The judges of the show are Christian Petroni, Derricka Clayton, and Stephanie Boswell. The episode 1 theme was Passport To The Parking Lot.

The four participant chefs had to make Italian-style countryside cuisine and a little Moroccan taste food with the available groceries.

In the second episode of the show, the four participants' challenge was to find their steaks. The theme of the episode was Steak Your Claim.

The Supermarket Stakeout Season 5 episode 5 will be premiered on 23rd May
The Supermarket Stakeout Season 5 episode 5 will be premiered on 23rd May( Source : twitter )

Similarly, the theme of the third episode was A Bittersweet Tale, the host put four contestant chefs on a high-sodium start. 

Parking Lots Are For Lovers was the theme of the fourth episode of the Food Network Show. Alex challenged them to make a fancy dish with dessert on their first date.

Episode five of the show will air on the Food Network on the 23rd of May at 9 pm EST. The theme of the episode is Back to the Food-ture.

Additionally, Fans can also watch the newly released episode on Discovery Plus, Amazon Prime, FuboTV, and DirectTV.

They can also purchase the episode on Apple TV, Google Play, Amazon Video, and Vudu.

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