Flake Bake’s Jamaican Beef Patty is returning to Aldi stores nationwide from tomorrow (22 August), just in time for the Notting Hill Carnival.
The handcrafted patty, comprising a flaky pastry crust and spicy ground beef filling with authentic Caribbean flavours, is produced by the independent wholesale bakery in Peckham, southeast London run by father and son duo Paul and Mike Williams.
Flake Bake beat five other businesses to win a listing with the discounter as part of the Channel 4 show Aldi’s Next Best Thing back in April.
Judges were blown away by the flakiness and taste of the “unbelievable” pastry, although the company needed help to reformulate its recipe to extend shelf life, and also enlisted a third-party supplier for upscaled production to meet the minimum order of 25,000 units.
The beef patty was rolled out at over 1,000 Aldi stores nationwide as a SpecialBuy, which are generally only available for one or two weeks till stocks run out. It was reported to be an instant success with shoppers, many of whom took to social media to request its return.
“The demand we’ve seen for Mike and Paul’s patties has been unprecedented,” commented Julie Ashfield, managing director of buying at Aldi UK. “The product is outstanding and it gives me great joy to bring the patties back to shelves.”
Aldi noted the 140g patty, priced at 99p each, is perfect for those wanting to get into the Carnival spirit – the annual event is being held in London’s Notting Hill district this bank holiday weekend (25 and 26 August).
“It’s not every day you get to say you’ve got a major UK supermarket stocking your product,” said Flake Bake managing director Mike Williams. “We know fans can’t wait to get their patties and we hope those new to Flake Bake enjoy this fantastic product just as much.”
Since appearing on the Channel 4 show, the family-run business has also catered for the Jamaican High Commission UK, been recognised in this year’s UK Black Business Show and HSBC UK ‘Top 25 Black Entrepreneurs to Watch’ list, and nominated for ‘Small Business of the Year’ at the Lloyds British Business Excellence Awards.
Another savoury pastry scoring a return leg as an Aldi SpecialBuy was the kebab pie from Pie Sports, which looked to repeat its success during the UEFA Euro 2024 football tournament with a second run at stores in Scotland from the start of this month.
Caribbean bakery also struck a chord with judges in the 2022 edition of Aldi’s Next Big Thing, with Nottingham-based rum cake supplier Harrison & Griffiths winning a listing.
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