Aldi
Aldi has taken the controversial decision to supply the UK’s first-ever pigs in blankets ice cream this Christmas.
Ian (63) and Lesley (62) Buxton, who run Yorkshire-based dairy farm Yorvale, landed their ‘piggest’ ever life-changing contract after winning over the supermarket in the Channel 4 show, Aldi’s Christmas Secrets.
Their quirky Pigs in Blankets Ice Cream wowed Managing Director of Buying at Aldi UK, Julie Ashfield and Communications Director at Aldi UK, Richard Thornton, and now their product will land on shelves nationwide from today (19th December).
Priced at just £2.49 (500ml) the unique smooth, savoury-sweet ice cream is pork flavoured with a salted smoked maple syrup.
Aldi’s Christmas Secrets saw the supermarket open its doors to the nation as it searched for new festive products, with British suppliers pitching for the chance to land a Christmas contract.
Hopefuls included Liverpool bakery, Desserts by Dre, with his Christmas Pudding Cheesecake, Wigston Deli, who pitched Pigs in Blankets Samosas, and a festive themed steamed pudding from Worcestershire-based The Pudding Shop.
But it was the quirky dairy treat that grabbed the attention of the supermarket.
Julie Ashfield, Managing Director of Buying at Aldi UK, said: “Yorvale and their Pigs in Blankets Ice Cream really excited us. It’s such a unique product that we can really see doing well at Aldi.”
Lesley, who has been in dairy farming for more than 30 years, says: “We knew it had to be unusual so we set about looking at typical Christmas flavours that might work in ice cream.
“We experimented with different flavour profiles: Brussels Sprouts, bacon and chestnut, Port-soaked cranberries and blue cheese, blue cheese and smoky bacon. Even a Christmas spiced ‘Cuthbert’ the carrot cake.
“But we finally landed on Pigs in Blankets as it was by far the best, and most festive tasting of them all.”
Husband, Ian, adds: “This is our first ever Aldi contract – an order of 25,000 is absolutely life changing.
“It’s great to think the whole country could be tucking into Pigs in Blankets ice cream at Christmas time. I hope it brings a smile to everyone’s faces.”
Related: What’s included in Heston Blumenthal’s £425 Xmas dinner
