Congratulations to the winners of the 2023 Bakels Legendary Sausage Roll Competition.

The judges at the Bakels Legendary Sausage Roll Competition faced a tough challenge in Christchurch on October 26, but the Legendary sausage roll's perfectly balanced seasoning and well-cooked pastry secured its victory from the hundreds of entries.

NZ Bakels managing director, Brent Kersel, highlighted the competition's popularity among bakers looking to shine. Plus Kiwis love sausage rolls, and we know they’ll be lining up to try the Legendary Sausage Roll as soon as the word gets out.

Congratulations again to the winner, Samraksmey So of Rosedale Bakery and Café in Auckland!

The eagerly awaited 25th Bakels New Zealand Supreme Pie Awards 2023 took place in Auckland on August 1 with hundreds of people attending a night of celebration in which we honoured bakers for their commitment to producing a quality pie.

It’s hard to imagine that in 1996 when we launched the Bakels NZ Supreme Pie Awards it would still be going strong today. We set out to change the pie landscape from ‘average or even below average’ to ‘outstanding’ and ‘superb’ with every bite.

Sometimes that isn’t an easy task, especially when you’re baking in excess of 100,000 pies a week and you have to maintain a realistic price for your customers. Every year, however, we’ve seen enormous improvements and great innovation in the quality of pies right across the industry and we’re very proud to be a part of that.

Without you, our hard-working bakers, the entry standards of these awards wouldn’t be where they are today. Your constant commitment to improving New Zealand’s humble pie has lifted it to star status. People send these little pieces of Kiwiana all over the world; tourists come here with a list of bakeries to visit as part of their itinerary, and New Zealand bakeries now export to countries where meat pies are most definitely considered ‘foreign’, and yet they’ve become hugely popular with no signs of abating.  

To the Gold Award bakers, our Supreme Award winner Patrick Lam, and to all the bakers who entered the Pie Awards; thank you.

I believe that there are many more opportunities ahead for the Bakels NZ Supreme Pie Awards. We may be celebrating our 25th anniversary, but in some ways it feels like we’re only just getting started, so watch this space!

Brent Kersel 

NZ Bakels managing director