A mother and daughter duo are set to compete in a new series to market their product in a supermarket.
Grail Metcalfe and Annabelle Akdeniz beat hundreds of hopefuls to appear on Channel 4’s new series, Aldi’s Next Big Thing, with their gluten-free cakes, which were created after Annabelle was diagnosed with a gluten intolerance.
The six-part series sees food and drink suppliers compete to acquire Aldi’s 970 stores across the country in the company’s Specialbuy section.
The East Sussex couple set up Belle and Wilde three years ago and business specializes in making gut-friendly sweet and savory baked goods.
Each product is made without preservatives, specially blended with gluten and wheat free flour and natural fresh local ingredients.
“I was studying and I got very sick,” said 27-year-old Anabel.
“I stopped eating gluten altogether and it made me feel so much better. But I had a hard time finding gluten-free treats that were decent and not full of preservatives, so I started making my own.
“I wanted to develop something tasty. That’s when we decided to create a business.
“If I went into Aldi and saw a cake I would be surprised because I’ve worked so hard and it’s taken me a lot of time and effort to make a cake this good. It would be an honor to see it on the shelves.”
Belle and Wilde was chosen from hundreds of applicants to compete to be number one on the supermarket list.
Presenters: Anita Rani from Countryfile and BBC Radio 4 and Chris Bevin from Britain’s Best Home Cook and Eating Well for Less? in this series, vendors will compete in categories such as dinners, baked goods, treats and essentials.
Products are submitted to Julie Ashfield, managing director of buying at Aldi UK, who looks at factors such as price, packaging, customer demand and scalability before narrowing the entries down to two.
The finalists are then given four weeks to consider any feedback before presenting the improved products to Julie, who decides which product will appear as a Specialbuy in 970 stores.
Aldi’s Next Big Thing is part of the supermarket’s ongoing commitment to local produce.
Aldi has invested an extra £1.6bn in UK suppliers since the start of the pandemic, including £125m spent on UK meat, poultry and dairy farmers.
Aldi has also reaffirmed its pledge to prioritize home-grown suppliers as it plans to spend an extra £3.5bn a year on UK businesses by the end of 2025.
Grail and Annabelle will appear on Channel 4’s Aldi’s Next Big Thing on Thursday 27 October at 8pm.
https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/23078799.east-sussex-duo-compete-channel-4-series-aldis-next-big-thing/?ref=rss
