Cheesemakers compete for spot on Aldi shelves in Channel 4 show
A Sowerby Bridge cheese making couple appeared on Channel 4 this week.
Razan Alsous and Raghid Sandouk, who run Yorkshire Dama Cheese, were on Aldi’s Next Big Thing on Tuesday, April 16 at 8pm.
The business specialises in creating a unique halloumistyle ‘squeaky cheese’, made from 100 per cent cow’s milk, alongside other dairy products including yoghurt, butter and ricotta.
But it was their Hello Mi Rolls they hoped would win over Aldi boss Julie Ashfield.
Hosted by Anita Rani, of Countryfile and BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour and Chris
Bavin, of BBC’s The One Show and Eat Well for Less, the sixpart series sees suppliers compete in a range of categories including dinners and baked goods, as well as exciting new category additions: party, world, and confectionery.
Products are presented to Julie who is the managing director of buying at Aldi UK, She deliberates on factors such as price, packaging, shopperdemand,andtheability to scale up, before shortlisting contestants down to just two.
The finalists are then given four weeks to address any feedback, with a follow-up home visit from Anita or Chris who will report back their findings to Julie.
The three then taste test the improved products, before Julie decides the winner which will appear as a Specialbuy in over 1,000 stores.
Julie said: “Gone are the days of simple cheese and pineapple sticks, as people are opting for more exciting, extravagant party foods.
“It’s certainly a category that invites experimentation!”
After relocating from Syria in 2012, Razan and Raghid noticed a lack of good tasting, quality cheeses in British supermarkets and decided to start their own cheese making business in 2014.
Razan said: “We came to the UK after the war in Syria in 2012. We had lost almost everything and had to settle into a new life in Yorkshire with three young children.
“I thought, why not create a business and make Syrian cheese from fresh high-quality British milk? And so started our journey - with an idea and a start-up loan of just £2,500 from the Local Enterprise Agency.
“We had to adapt the equipment we bought and finally got the approval to start manufacturingcheeseinJune 2014.