Ian and Lesley Buxton of York dairy farm Yorvale have landed their piggest ever contract!
The couple, who have a 80-acre dairy farm at Acaster Malbis won over supermarket bosses in last night’s 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.
Priced at just £2.50 for 500ml, the smooth, savoury-sweet ice cream is pork flavoured with a salted smoked maple syrup.
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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 bosses.
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, 62, who has been in dairy farming for more than 30 years, said: “We knew it had to be unusual so we set about looking at typical Christmas flavours that might work in ice cream.
“We developed several different flavour profiles: Brussels Sprouts, bacon and chestnut, Port-soaked cranberries and blue cheese, blue cheese and smoky bacon – even Christmas spiced ‘Cuthbert’ the carrot cake.
‘’But Pigs in Blankets tasted great and was an instant hit with the Aldi team.
“We hit a block when one of the ingredients in our original prototype couldn’t be sourced to the scale needed, but we went back to the kitchen and produced a product that in the end, tasted even better.”
Husband Ian, 63, added: “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.”
The couple have ran their dairy farm since 1984 and diversified from standard milk production five years ago, now having an onsite ice cream factory with 14 staff.
They make around 50 flavours including classic vanilla and mint choc chip, but it’s the unusual festive offering they hope will land them a life changing contract with Aldi.
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