An Arnold couple who won Aldi’s ‘Next Big Thing’ on Channel 4 have been overwhelmed with orders and are “working around the clock” following their success. Colin Harrison and Paulette Griffiths once sold one of their Jamaican rum cakes - which are a family recipe and cost £11.99 - to the Princess of Wales and they have gone from strength to strength since.
They have been baking for up to 20 hours a day at some points but they are grateful for the attention they have received from across the world. Collin, 69 and Paulette, 59, both from Arnold, have been working together since 2015.
Paulette recalled the moment they won the competition and said: “When it aired, we were here [at home], our website had crashed and everything’s been crazy since the show finished. After the final, we had about 500 orders straight away.”
The couple’s living room and dining area had to be converted into a packing station, with family and friends helping with orders. Paulette continued: “We’ve been working round the clock, local people want to support us, they want to support us and don’t mind spending the extra money and people don’t just order one thing!
“All the reviews of the cakes have been great too, there’s hardly been any negative comments.” In one day, the couple can make up to 70 large cakes and then 90+ small ones.
With thousands of cakes being sold since the show was aired, the couple is facing the Christmas rush, will have a break and then get ready for the Valentine's Day rush.
Paulette went on to say that the couple would soon “outgrow” the bakery and the next big thing would be to have a “click and collect” type space for people to pick up their orders.
The couple also bakes and sells loaf cakes and fruit cakes in a made bakery added into the couple's house. Colin added: “There’s no spare time!” Speaking about their neighbours' reaction whilst the couple were filming the shop, Colin said: “During the competition, a film crew showed up and all the neighbours were looking, curtains were twitching and the film crew was there all day because of the retakes!”
Paulette, who had found out about the competition through the Great Food Club, had thought it was a spam email after finding out they had made it onto the Channel 4 show.
Finding more out about the competition, the couple thought they were nowhere near the stage of making cakes for 950 Aldi Stores. Colin continued: “We needed a pitch for the next stage but we didn’t really have one, we just ended up speaking about how we started and they loved it but on the way down there, I said to Paulette, ‘wouldn’t it be funny if we won?’”
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