Flake Bake has rolled out a brand-new chicken variant of its Jamaican patties at Aldi, after sales of its original beef patties soared over one million.
The new Flake Bake Chicken Patty (£0.99, 140g) is available now at over 1,000 Aldi stores nationwide, and comprises tender seasoned chicken in fiery Caribbean spices, encased in the brand’s signature golden-yellow flaky pastry.
Founded in 2012 by Peckham-based father-and-son duo Paul and Mike Williams, Flake Bake landed its first listing with the discounter in April 2024 when it’s beef patty won the bakery episode of Channel 4’s TV series Aldi’s Next Big Thing. Judges were impressed by the flakiness and taste of the “unbelievable” pastry, with the company needing help to reformulate its recipe to extend shelf life and also enlist a third-party supplier for upscaled production to meet the minimum order of 25,000 units.
With “unprecedented” demand for the patty, which had only been given a limited run as a SpecialBuy product, Aldi decided to bring it back for a second listing last summer, making it a regular seasonal product rather than a one-off SpecialBuy with a limited run – this marked a first for an Aldi’s Next Big Thing winner. The beef patty has been selling continuously at the retailer since September 2024, surpassing the one million sales milestone.
“It has been one year since appearing on Aldi’s Next Big Thing and the journey following the episode has been phenomenal,” commented co-founder Mike Williams. “We’re thrilled to be the first brand from the show to return with a seasonal product and we can’t wait for shoppers to try our new delicious chicken flavour.”
Aldi UK chief commercial officer Julie Ashfield, who appeared on the Channel 4 show as a judge, said it was “incredible to see how far Mike and Paul have come since we met them”. She added: “Their Flake Bake patties have been a huge success and we’re excited to expand the range with a new flavour this summer – we hope shoppers love them!”
In a further boost to the brand, Flake Bake became one of four black-owned businesses to secure £150k worth of TV advertising as part of Channel 4’s Black in Business 2024 initiative. The Williams are to receive mentoring from a ‘senior sponsor’ executive from both Channel 4 and Lloyds bank, with TV ads set to run from July.
The business has also catered for the Jamaican High Commission UK, been named in HSBC UK’s ‘Top 25 Black Entrepreneurs to Watch’, and won Best Patty at the UK Caribbean Food Awards 2024.
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