Yahoo News I tried the winning items from Aldi's Next Big Thing and it was an eclectic mix
Aldi is a supermarket known for their low prices, but it also has a wide variety of wonderful products that you might not be aware of.
Many smaller food and drink producers would love to get their products onto the supermarket's shelves, and some get the opportunity through the show Aldi's Next Big Thing.
The Channel 4 show aired its second series in April 2024 where producers pitch their products to Aldi in the hopes they can get a life-changing contract.
The second series saw items such as Lion's Mane mushrooms, banana ketchup, wine spritzers and Jamaican patties win the opportunity to make it into Aldi's selection.
I was curious to see what these products were like, so I tried out all of the winning items to see if they were worth the hype.
I tried the winning products from Aldi's Next Big Thing
Flake Bake Jamaican Patties
The first product I tried was Flake Bake's Jamaican Patties, Caribbean-inspired pastries filled with various flavours.
The selection included Beef, Chicken and Vegetable patties which had some mild spices to add a little something to the taste.
The Flake Bake Beef Patty was very tasty (Image: Newsquest)
I really enjoyed their beef version which made for a great lunch option due to its deliciousness.
Whilst the chicken one tasted good the actual chicken was a bit thinly distributed whilst the vegetable one was perfectly fine.
Dried Lion's Mane Mushrooms and Banana Ketchup
One of the more unique items from the winners list that I was looking forward to was the Dried Lion's Mane Mushrooms from Fungi Foods.
In order to cook the Lion's Mane mushrooms you needed to rehydrate them (Image: Newsquest)
The mushrooms get their name from their unusual straggly appearance and are grown in North Wales.
It took a little bit of time to prepare, as you had to rehydrate them in a bowl of water for 30 minutes, dry them out and then place them back in a bowl of water for another five minutes.
Once that process was complete they were easy enough to incorporate into cooking, as I put them in an omelette I was making.
Whilst I was trying the mushrooms I thought it might be a good idea to utilise another one of Aldi's winning products with Roni B's Kitchen Filipino Style Banana Ketchup.
Banana Ketchup is a sweeter and tangier take on regular ketchup (Image: Newsquest)
This is a slightly sweeter and tangier twist on regular ketchup which I had on the side of my omelette.
Overall, I was very impressed with the mushrooms which were surprisingly quite meaty in texture and really enhanced the dish.
However, I can't really say the same about the banana ketchup. This has a lot to do with personal preference though as I'm not a fan of ketchup anyway so you may well find it a brilliant accompaniment to certain dishes.
The Lion's Mane Mushroom omelette (Image: Newsquest)
Crabulous Crabcakes
Next up was the Crabulous Crabcakes from The Fabulous Catch Company which are loaded with crab meat, leeks, chilli, some fresh parsley, lemon juice and seasoning.
The company's crab meat is sustainably caught in the UK and they work with regional fishermen and local producers and growers whenever possible.
All in all, this was probably my favourite product of the bunch. I am partial to a bit of seafood anyway but the balance of flavours was honestly delightful and I couldn't recommend it highly enough.
The crabcakes were absolutely phenomenal (Image: Newsquest)
Nania's Vineyard Wine Spritzers
The only drinks-related product from Aldi's Next Big Thing was Nania's Vineyard Wine Spritzers which came in two different flavours.
One was a Yuzu & Elderflower flavour whilst the other was Raspberry & Pomegranate.
Wine spritzers are certainly not my usual drink of choice, but it has to be said that the Yuzu & Elderflower option was superb.
Nania's Vineyard Wine Spritzers were surprisingly good (Image: Newsquest)
I could have easily had several more, and it was so easily drinkable I got through the can incredibly quickly.
In comparison the Raspberry & Pomegranate flavour was fine but the Yuzu & Elderflower option is definitely something I would seek out again.
Cluster Club
Another sweet product from Aldi's Next Big Thing was the Cluster Club Nut Clusters, which came in three different flavours.
It combines Brazil nuts, hazelnuts and walnuts around chocolate to make little clusters (as the product name suggests).
Cluster Club have three different products (Image: Newsquest)
The options I tried were Belgian Milk Chocolate, White Chocolate & Cranberry and Belgian Chocolate Orange.
All three choices were delicious and made for a relatively healthy snack too.
It was hard to pick a favourite, but I think the simplicity of the Belgian Milk Chocolate won out for me, although the Chocolate Orange one was not too far behind.
Hello-Mi Rolls
The last product to try was the Hello-Mi Rolls from Yorkshire Dama Cheese which are a blend of "Halloumi style" Squeaky cheese, Whey protein cheese, and aromatic onion seeds, all wrapped in crisp filo pastry.
The Hello-Mi Rolls once cooked (Image: Newsquest)
After frying for a short period of time they were ready to eat and I have to say I was rather impressed.
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I'm not a fan of Halloumi, so I was worried if it was in the same sort of style I might not enjoy it, but it was very tasty.
The pastry surrounding it was delightful and it had a little spicy kick as well to add another dimension.
Overall, Aldi's Next Big Thing winning products were a joy to try, and it suggests the judges on the show know what they're doing.
