Partners Colin Harrison and Paulette Griffiths made some UK Black history of their very own when they won a life-changing contract to supply their rum cake to Aldi supermarkets nationwide. Their largest order had been 250 cakes; now they will be supplying Aldi with a minimum of 30,000 units across their 970 stores.
The Nottingham couple featured on Channel 4’s Aldi’s ‘Next BigThing’ on October 27, with their Harrison and Griffiths Finest Jamaican Rum Cake. The series sees food and drink suppliers compete for a space on Aldi’s shelves. Audiences were amazed as Julie Ashfield, Managing Director of purchasing at Aldi UK, declared the rum cake, “The best product I’ve eaten in the history of products I’ve eaten” during the judging process.
Colin and Paulette were introduced by a family friend, and discovered they had a shared passion for cakes. They have a combined total of 25 years’ baking experience between them, and have been making rum cake together since 2016. The extra moist Caribbean fruit cakes showcased on the show are based on Colin’s mum’s recipe, but tweaked over many years to make sure “once you have a slice, you want another.” The pair fought off stiff competition from Indian Parisian baker, Pastry Pédaleur, a dessert sushi product, gluten-free brownies and decadent doughnuts, to win the life-changing contract.
Colin and Paulette had to overcome a number of hurdles to make their rum cake viable for the supermarket’s stores. Having previously made everything in-house (literally), the couple worked with an Aldi supplier to scale up production. Harrison, co-founder, said,“It took me a long time to perfect this recipe, and of course I was worried outsourcing production wouldn’t be as good. But we worked with Aldi’s supplier to make sure it was as we wanted, and we’re really happy with it. It’s great! We feel like we’re on another planet at the moment.”
Paulette Griffiths, the other co-founder, said,“I still can’t believe that next time we’re in Aldi waiting at the till we might see someone’s got our cake in their basket. I was joking in the show when I said I might offer to sign it, but I might have to.”
The multi-category competition is part of Aldi’s ongoing commitment to locally sourced products. Aldi has pledged to prioritise home-grown suppliers as it works towards spending an additional £3.5 billion a year with British businesses by the end of 2025.
Harrison & Griffiths Rum Cake is available in stores now, priced at £4.99, but shoppers need to get in quick to get a chance to try it; as with all ‘Specialbuys’, once they’re gone, they’re gone!
