Cookie Dó, ChanChan and Woodfire & Green products will hit shelves nationwide from September 23rd

Foodie lovers should watch out as Aldi has whittled down the country’s best of the best producers across all food, drink, and non-food categories to bring you six Grow with Aldi winners for 2021, three of whom hail from Dublin. From delicious cookies, mouth-watering burger sauces, zingy salad dressings, Asian inspired condiments, gourmet sausages and more, get down to your local Aldi store from September 23rd to sample these award-winning products when they hit shelves nationwide.

The Dublin producers who were named as three of the six winners of this year’s Grow with Aldi programme are:

  • Cookie Dó Cookie Dough Bake Roll- €3.99 (Tallaght, Co. Dublin) Available in Choc Chip, Triple Chocolate and Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chip Cookies
  • ChanChan Mala Black Garlic Peanut Chilli Rayu- €3.99 (Firhouse, Co. Dublin)
  • Woodfire & Green Burger Sauce, Blue Cheese Dip and Wing Sauce- €3.49 (Sandyford, Co. Dublin)

These three Dublin winners rose to the top of 290 products in total which were entered by over 120 Irish food, drink, and non-food suppliers this year, with products from the 56 suppliers going on sale in the 148 Aldi stores nationwide as part of Aldi’s Specialbuys in June 2021. Having been highly commended by the judging panel, the winning six producers came up trumps to secure the opportunity to become a core range listing in Aldi stores nationwide. Each of the winning products from this year’s programme, including products from Cookie Dó, ChanChan and Woodfire & Green will be available in stores from September 23rd, with all three of these Dublin suppliers winning 12-month contracts with the international retailer.

Cookie Dó which hails from a family-owned bakery and Irish speaking ‘Aon Scéal Café’ in Tallaght Village, Co. Dublin, started out as a pandemic passion project, having spent 2020 perfecting the perfect cookie and inventing new and delicious flavours. Having supplied freshly baked goods and tray bakes to shops all over Dublin for the last six years, Ciaran Fitzpatrick took the leap and moved from the food service sector, to starting his own business in the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Made with 100% Irish butter and employing five team members, Dó Cookies’ Cookie Dough Bake Roll is an easy slice and bake cookie roll designed especially for home baking.

Speaking about his recent Grow with Aldi win, Fitzpatrick said; “I am absolutely thrilled to have been announced as one of the six winners of this year’s Grow with Aldi programme. The last 18 months have been extremely difficult for anyone working in the hospitality sector, and I’m delighted that my leap of faith paid off. All of our Dó Cookies are made using my mother’s recipes and to see our products on shelves on September 23rd is something I never could have dreamed of before the pandemic began – I can’t wait!” 

Adding some spice to this year’s winners, ChanChan’s products include premium Asian flavourings designed for the Irish palate, and it was the Mala Black Garlic Peanut Chilli Rayu product which caught the judge’s eye during this year’s Grow with Aldi programme. Produced in Firhouse, Co. Dublin, Donegal raised Kwanghi Chan of ChanChan has been in business for four years and is over the moon with the recent news.

Speaking about the win, Chan said; “I’m delighted to have been named as one of this year’s winners of the Grow with Aldi programme. Hailing from Hong Kong but having grown up in Buncrana in Donegal, I’m delighted to be able to marry my Chinese and Irish heritage to create a product like our Mala Black Garlic Peanut Chilli Rayu which now everyone all over Ireland can enjoy. This is really a special moment for me and an achievement that may never have been possible were it not for the Grow with Aldi programme.”

The third Dublin supplier announced as one of the six winners of this year’s Grow with Aldi programme is Woodfire & Green. Produced in Sandyford, Co. Dublin by Deirdre and Patrick Fitzgerald, Woodfire & Green’sBurger Sauce, Blue Cheese Dip and Wing Sauce were all produced from scratch especially for the Grow with Aldi programme, in a bid to create alternative business routes for the family-run catering business and restaurant in Sandyford, which was set up by the family’s late mother, Collette Fitzgerald.

Speaking about their win, Deirdre Fitzgerald said; “Having come from a catering background which was badly hit during the Covid-19 pandemic, it just made sense to make the move into creating a range of products that would be available to consumers nationwide. We are overjoyed that the Grow with Aldi programme allowed us to make this move and help shift our business model and keep our family legacy going for hopefully more years to come. We can’t wait to see our products on shelves in Aldi stores on September 23rd, it’ll definitely be a family occasion to remember.”

Now in its fourth year, the Grow with Aldi Supplier Development Programme which launched in 2018, was created in partnership with Bord Bia to help the very best Irish suppliers develop their brand with the chance to become a core range listing in Aldi stores nationwide. To date, almost 800 producers and suppliers have entered the Grow with Aldi programme, with €3million invested by Aldi in a bid to find the very best Irish suppliers. Having created a space for the most ambitious, innovative, creative, and trendsetting businesses, brands and entrepreneurs, this year’s programme saw the highest number of entrants to the programme so far with a 30% increase on 2020, seeing 120 Irish producers across the country stepping out of their comfort zone to embark on a new and exciting Grow with Aldi journey.

Speaking about the launch of the winning products, John Curtin, Aldi Group Buying Director, said; “It has been incredible to see the strength and resilience of Irish suppliers, despite a difficult few years. Here at Aldi, we want to reassert Ireland as a hotspot for innovative grassroots suppliers, championing these producers that create top-notch Irish products, and make them accessible for all. We’re incredibly proud of the Grow with Aldi programme to date and hope that even more Irish suppliers and businesses will be inspired by our 2021 winners to take a leap of faith and consider entering the 2022 programme next year.”

Speaking about the Grow with Aldi programme, Tara McCarthy, Bord Bia CEO said; “This amazing programme offers small and medium Irish businesses an incredible creative platform to take their brand and business to the next level. The experienced team at both Aldi and here at Bord Bia, have developed an incredible, tailored made programme that prepares these businesses for a successful future within their sector – a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

Grow with Aldi is designed to help the very best Irish suppliers develop their brand, giving them the chance to be listed in all 148 stores nationwide. Throughout the programme, entrants attend mentoring sessions and workshops with the world-renowned Aldi Buying team and the Aldi Marketing team as well as with key technical experts from Bord Bia. In doing so, receiving indispensable knowledge, and acquiring the necessary skills in order to help grow and develop their product, brand, and business.

For more information on the Grow with Aldi programme, visit www.aldi.ie/grow.