When the British Pie Awards recently announced their supreme winner, a kebab pie made by a Scottish butcher, the number of bakeries entered in the competition stood out against the Bakels NZ Supreme Pie Awards entry numbers.

With a population of 69.5 million, the British Pie Awards attracted 900 entries. In this country of about 5.25m, the Bakels awards attracted 560.

On judging day, some 5000 pies went through judging before the Supreme winning pie was found.

“Our entry numbers have been steadily growing year-on-year and we’re getting close to 600 entries,” NZ Bakels managing director Brent Kersel told SunLive.

“There’s no doubt Kiwis love their pies and our bakers keep upping their game on quality and innovation.

“But it’s interesting to see that the two largest category entry numbers are still the mince and cheese and the steak and cheese.

“In the 26 years of the competition to 2024, mince and cheese has won six Supreme Awards.

“We’ve also seen a lot of growth in entries for the gourmet meat category, which shows that bakers are focusing on perfecting the basics first and then using innovation to add something a bit different to their pie warmers to attract new sales.”

Steak and cheese pies are always popular. Photo / Supplied

In New Zealand, bakeries produce an estimated 80-100 million pies a year with some commercial bakeries also exporting their pies.

According to Food Standards NZ in its current food statistics (2017), Kiwis consume about 15 meat pies per person a year.

That number has definitely increased, Kersel said.

Across the ditch, our Aussie mates, with a population of nearly 27 million, consume 12 meat pies per person a year.

In 2024, the Official Great Aussie Pie Competition attracted 367 entries with 2000 pies judged.

“When you compare our New Zealand pie statistics with other countries where pies are a significant part of the consumer market, it easy to see that Kiwi pies rank in the highest numbers for consumption and our competition entry numbers reflect that market,” Kersel said.

“I’ve heard the Bakels NZ Supreme Pie Awards described as the New Zealand Oscars.

“I think that’s a pretty good description of our awards night, where we celebrate the top producers in our baking industry.

“This year we’ll do it all again, with judging day on July 24 and awards night on July 29.

“Pie fans might like to put that date in their diary because we know they’ll want to get their hands on the supreme pie as soon as they can.”