THE innovative series Breaking Into Tesco (five, 9pm) offers some of the nation's most ambitious cooks the chance of a lifetime - to turn their signature recipes into dishes that could be served in every home in the country.

How? By getting them onto the shelves of Britain's biggest supermarket.

Every week, four hopefuls get the chance to meet a panel of experts and test their new dishes on the public, aiming for the ultimate prize of selling them in the store.

The products featured in the series range from left-field concepts like soup in a bun, to more traditional fare such as meat pies and hearty British faggots.

Over the weeks, the 20 contestants must battle it out for one contract, but thankfully they will be guided by two experts at the top of their game.

One mentor helping the wannabes in their bid to create a successful product is Allan Leighton, one of Britain's most formidable businessmen, who is chairman of the Royal Mail Group. The other mentor is chef and award-winning restaurateur Simon Rimmer.

Despite not being a vegetarian, he took over Greens in Manchester, in 1990, and just a couple of years later was rewarded for his culinary expertise when a national newspaper branded the eatery one the UK's most exciting new restaurants.

Presenting

Since then, he's gone on to appear on TV with a regular slot on This Morning, before taking a cooking/presenting role on Something For The Weekend and can be seen on BBC2's Recipe For Success.

Here, as the contest hots up, viewers are given the opportunity to see exactly what goes into creating the food we buy.

Firms like Tesco pour a fortune into developing the products they sell, in a process that can take years.

However, these amateurs have just two weeks to learn the trade and prepare a pitch to be delivered to the company's retail powerbrokers.

"You're going to hear things you don't want to hear," warns Simon.

But before he can help his proteges perfect their recipes, the products are evaluated by two Tesco food developers - Stephanie Bacon and Nicky Gorman - who are happy to provide plenty of feedback. Having listened to the experts' advice, carried out their own research and refined their products, the contestants go up against the real Tesco testing panel to learn if their creations meet the industry's high standards for retail development.

At this point, the weakest product and contestant is eliminated.

The final task for the remaining contestants is to pitch their ideas to the Tesco buyers - powerful business executives responsible for deciding what food the nation purchases.

It's an eye-opening experience for the cooks, but this is only the beginning of a long, hard journey if they are to successfully break into Tesco.

So tune in and see how the competitors are getting on - you never know, it might be your favourite dish that makes it all the way.