Liverpool Food Network Member Dre Carrington – founder of Desserts by Dre – will appear on Channel 4’s Aldi’s Christmas Secrets, on Monday 18th December at 9pm.
A new show sees British suppliers go head-to-head, with winning festive products landing in stores from 19th December. Viewers also get behind the scenes look at Aldi in the lead up to Christmas, including planning for the nation’s first ever bottomless Pigs in Blankets Restaurant
The programme sees British suppliers put festive foodie creations to Managing Director of Buying at Aldi UK, Julie Ashfield, and Communications Director at Aldi UK, Richard Thornton, for the chance to land a life changing contract for the festive season.
Dre, who is the mastermind behind Desserts by Dre, opened his own bakery on Penny Lane in 2022. He hopes to wow Aldi bosses with a festive take on his speciality dessert – a Christmas Pudding Cheesecake. In addition to his cake shop, Dre sells his creations both wholesale and online, but says the scale of an order from a big supermarket would change everything:
“It would be the most incredible, life changing opportunity to be able to have a product that I have created in stores. But most importantly, being on someone’s table at Christmas. That is the pinnacle.”
Other hopefuls include Wigston Deli, who pitch Pigs in Blankets Samosas, a festive themed steamed pudding from Worcestershire based The Pudding Shop, and Pigs in Blankets Ice Cream from Yorkshire dairy farm Yorvale.
Julie Ashfield, Managing Director of Buying at Aldi UK says: “With so many of our existing suppliers coming up with great Christmas products, we really only have space for one more within our seasonal range. We absolutely have to stand out from the crowd at Christmas and new, quirky products are key to this.”
Dre is not the first Liverpool Food Network member to pitch to Aldi – Fermentation Station founders Amy Yarker and Sam Watson also appeared on the programme in 2022 with their Roast Dinner Kimchi.
Keen to see how Dre got on? Tune in toChannel 4’s Aldi’s Christmas Secrets, on Monday 18th December at 9pm.
