Ice cream-loving shoppers have spotted that Aldi has added two new tasty flavours to its popular mochi range.
In case you didn’t know, the leading budget supermarket chain started selling the Japanese-inspired sweet treats last May after they skyrocketed in popularity and had captured the attention of more than 500 million viewers from across the globe on the video sharing platform TikTok since the beginning of 2021.
Mochi is a traditional Japanese rice cake made with “mochigome”, which is a short-grain glutinous rice, and they’re made by pounding the rice into a paste and then moulding it into the desired shape.
Traditionally, mochi balls are made during a Japanese ceremony called Mochitsuki.
When they first launched in stores and online, Aldi originally started out by selling three fruity flavours – tropical, mango and coconut.
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But fans of delicacy will know that the mochi brand Aldi stocks, Wao Mochi, has a website filled with a wide range of other flavours too, including vanilla, mango, chocolate, matcha tea, lemon yuzu, and pistachio – but two of the fan-favourites flavours have to be caramel and cheesecake, which is why Aldi has decided to start selling them too.
The two new flavours have already been spotted in Aldi stores by eagle-eyed shoppers.
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Popular food blogger New Foods UK was one of the first to spot the two new flavours in store and take to Facebook and Instagram to share the news that they now being stocked, with thousands of others sharing their excitement and seeming keen to head to their nearest Aldi in the hopes of grabbing a few boxes.
It was not revealed which particular Aldi branch the new flavours were spotted in.
Thanks to the elevated social media popularity and demand for the moon-shaped desserts since the turn of the new year in 2021, mochi is known for being notoriously difficult for people in the UK to get their hands on and boxes always sell out quick.
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Some mochi brands have even reported that sales increased by a whopping 2,000% since January 2021 alone.
Aldi has added caramel and cheesecake flavours to its Wao Mochi range / Credit: Wao Mochi
Although unconfirmed at this point, if the previous flavours Aldi stocks are anything to go by, the Wao Mochi Caramel and Wao Mochi Cheesecake flavours should come in boxes of six, and will set you back just £3.49.
If you’re planning on heading to ALDI to grab a fresh box of these sweet, summery treats, then you can check opening times for your local branch here.
The cheapest Christmas Markets in the world for mulled wine have been revealed
Daisy Jackson
The most affordable Christmas Markets for drinking mulled wine have been revealed – and Manchester is nowhere in sight.
With Christmas markets across Europe preparing to welcome millions of visitors, festive fans looking to enjoy a warming cup of glühwein without breaking the bank might want to take note of the latest findings.
Festive experts at Christmas Tree World have analysed mulled wine prices at Christmas markets around the world to discover where visitors can enjoy the seasonal favourite for less.
Topping the rankings is Brussels’ Winter Wonders, where mulled wine is available for as little as £2.14 – about a third of the price of a mulled wine at the Manchester Christmas Markets.
Cologne Cathedral Christmas Markets and Strasbourg’s Christkindelsmärik share second place, with starting prices of just £2.56.
Other European favourites also feature prominently in the rankings. Budapest’s Christmas Market at the Basilica takes fourth place, with mulled wine costing £3.19, while Prague’s Old Town Square Christmas Market comes in sixth at £3.55.
Germany makes another strong appearance, with Dresden’s Striezelmarkt and Nuremberg’s Christkindlesmarkt (which handily just launched new direct flights from Manchester) both offering mulled wine for £3.85.
Meanwhile, Vienna’s Christmas World rounds off the European entries in ninth place, with prices starting at £4.28.
For those planning a festive adventure further afield, Tokyo’s Christmas Market also makes the top five, with mulled wine costing £3.22.
However, not every destination offers such a bargain. Across the Atlantic, New York City’s Winter Village takes the title of the most expensive market in the study, with mulled wine costing a rather less festive £11.74. Chicago’s Christkindlmarket isn’t far behind, charging £8.80.
Manchester Christmas Markets start on Friday 6 November – we’ll see how our prices stack up then.
Sir Ian McKellen pays emotional tribute to long-time friend and fellow northern actor Sir Patrick Stewart
Emily Sergeant
Sir Ian McKellen has paid an emotional tribute to his long-time friend and fellow northern actor, Sir Patrick Stewart, following his death.
Sir Patrick Stewart – who was born and bred in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, and is best-known for his theatre work alongside an illustrious 60-year screen career, taking on prominent roles in franchises such as Star Trek and X-Men – sadly passed away at the age of 86, with his death being announced publicly yesterday evening (29 October).
And now, his long-time friend and fellow northern actor, Sir Ian McKellen, has paid tribute.
Sir Patrick and Sir Ian shared the stage together countless times over their decades-long careers, but also famously starred alongside each other in the X-Men franchise, and subsequent Marvel movies, as Charles Xavier/Professor X and Magneto.
The tribute, shared across Sir Ian’s social media platforms, reads: “Before everything else, Patrick was defined by being born and bred in Yorkshire, the proud county in the north of England which he loved to the end. You could hear it in his accented voice and in the stern honesty with which he told you what he thought and felt. Yorkshiremen have no truck with half-truths or avoidance of big issues. He wore his heart on his sleeve, which made him a man to rely on, to admire and in my case, love.
“We first met as ambitious young actors with the Royal Shakespeare Company half a century ago but we weren’t in the same productions.
“My first strong memory was a few years later, meeting him in the street in central London when he told me about an offer to take over a leading part in ‘Star Trek’. “But Patrick think of your stage career in the UK. Do you really want to risk getting lost in Hollywood for years and years?”
“Well, he took the risk and thank goodness for us all that he did, for not just his devoted Trekkies, but film and theatre audiences who marvelled at his using international celebrity to star in a string of cinema successes (‘X-Men’ of course) and in great classical plays by Shakespeare, Ibsen, Arthur Miller, Peter Shaffer, Pinter and Beckett at Stratford-upon-Avon, in London’s West End and on Broadway.
“America was his adopted home, where he met his adored Sunny who has cared for him through sickness and health, through thick and thin.
“But he never forsook his origins: and the proudest achievement of the most respected and beloved actor of his generation on either side of the Atlantic, was his appointment as Chancellor of Huddersfield University in Yorkshire.”
Emily Sergeant -
15th March 2022 
