Free-from snack brand Crave has won a listing with the retail giant

A Kent start-up brand has won Channel 4 TV show Aldi's Next Big Thing.

Founder Rob Brice, who is from Pluckley, is celebrating the after winning the competition which rewards the category winners with a listing in retail giant Aldi.

The Store Cupboard episode of the Channel 4 TV Show Aldi’s Next Big Thing aired last night (17th November) and follows British food and drink start-ups who are looking to become the next big thing.

Rob Brice and his free-from brand Crave successfully made it through the initial assessment rounds of the competition before making it to the final in the store cupboard category.

“We almost didn't enter, as we thought they were looking for artisan foods, and we didn’t think a vegan and free-from brand was what they were after but what the hell. They can only say no right? So, we entered online and thought nothing of it”, says Rob.

Having launched Crave in 2020, Rob set out to develop tasty foods which are allergen free so that no one need miss out. Having started with two very successful free-from chocolate bars, Rob then went on to launch the snacks, Pickled Onion Monster Feet and Smokey Flavoured Streakers.

“My inspiration for Crave was seeing that so many free-from foods were either bland and boring or firmly focussed on health, I wanted to shake things up, bring bold flavour and a bit of fun.”

Having passed the initial assessment rounds, Crave was then invited to the Aldi HQ to present products to Julie Ashfield, Managing Director of Buying at Aldi.

“All I had to do was present some of our snacks, I think our pitch went down well and we tried to get across who we are and how we like to do things a bit differently… We always say "we stand out, so you fit in", so that’s what we tried to do!

“The whole filming experience was surreal and unreal! As a start-up brand we were pinching ourselves to even have this opportunity and potential exposure on TV. It’s a money can’t buy sort of thing for us, and we were super happy to have got that far!”

After a successful presentation to the Aldi team, Crave was then selected as one of two brands in the store cupboard category to be announced as finalists. The next stage of the process required them to come up with a brand-new product complete with packaging design within 2 weeks.

Crave’s new product development resulted in a maize snack with a Flamin’ Hot flavour; Wots’inits are of course gluten free, lactose free and vegan, developed as an 80g share bag as well as a smaller multi pack option.

“We travelled back for the final and presented our new product to the team, lots of work had gone into it, the packaging and product itself. To then hear Julie call our name out as the winner of our category.......I was gobsmacked. I turned to my fiancé, open mouthed and both of us immediately burst into tears.”

The winning products from Aldi’s Next Big Thing will appear as Specialbuys in stores nationwide.

“The listing in Aldi for us is huge, our biggest order to date and we hope the start of a beautiful relationship!!! The Aldi team have been great to deal with and we like to think they get Crave, what we’re about and what we’re trying to do.

“It goes to show that vegan and free-from can be mainstream. Julie and the team loved the fact that Crave is all about delivering those normal food products that people may be missing out on, they loved our cheeky tone of voice and what we do.”