Aldi considering selling edible insects

Aldi could soon be selling edible insects on its shelves after being impressed on their new Channel 4 TV show.

Bosses of the supermarket giant met with Aaron Thomas and Leo Taylor of Yum Bug on Channel 4's new programme Aldi's Next Big Thing on Thursday night (20 October).

And while edible insects in UK supermarkets are nothing new, it is fair to say it is not mainstream - however, the Yum Bug pair are hoping to change that.

Thomas and Taylor are hoping to sell their insect recipe kits - which feature insects such as crickets - to be a nutritious and sustainable food source.

The duo said that they have been working on trying to get the brand mainstream for about five years, when they began their journey as insect connoisseurs.

In their pitch, Taylor said: "Aaron and I have been cooking with insects for years – it started in 2017 with weekends experimenting out of my parents’ garage, cooking up all sorts of recipes and posting content online.

"We then sold our first insect recipe boxes out of our bedrooms in lockdown, and that’s really where everything snowballed."

Thomas added: "Crickets are up to 70 per cent protein, which is three times the amount of protein found in beef.

"They’re also got more iron than spinach, more calcium than milk, and the list keeps going. They are an incredible superfood.

Who's watching us on @Channel4 #AldisNextBigThing right now? Take a look at our delicious range yourself: https://t.co/KgYI7hSIuM 🐛 pic.twitter.com/nbeRoko5Wv

— Yum Bug (@_yumbug) October 20, 2022

"We want to take bug consumption mainstream. If we’re able to get in front of Aldi’s audience, that would be an amazing opportunity."

If Yum Bugs are successful, then their Aldi offering would see their Roasted Crickets and Yum Bug Mince hit shelves, as well as their delicious Smoky BBQ Cricket Tacos.

Looks like Aldi's own Smoky BBQ fajita kits might have some competition.

And the pair have already received major backing from the food industry, with The Great British Bake Off judge Prue Leith, who has endorsed the product.

Leith is a big advocate for more sustainable ways of eating and urged Brits to eat more bugs in her column for The Telegraph in 2020.

She also claimed that we would all be 'eating bugs by 2030'.

The final decision on which product will make it onto the Aldi shelves will come from the supermarket's Managing Director of Buying, Julie Ashfield.

The winner of Aldi's Next Big Thing will need beat 35 other suppliers to guarantee a space on the supermarket's product list.

Aldi's Next Big Thing continues next Thursday (27 October) at 8pm on Channel 4.