Goodtime Pies invests heavily in bakery and its staff

Goodtime Pies invests heavily in bakery and its staff

Goodtime Pies, one of New Zealand’s largest manufacturers and distributors of pies has recently invested almost $3M (three million dollars) in its Hawke’s Bay bakery, through plant upgrades and staff training to keep it ahead of the rest and to bring it up to export standard.

In 2012, Goodtime spent more than $660,000 on a new freezer complex which gives it the capacity to hold 275 pallets (82 tonne) of frozen pies, sausage rolls and savouries. The complex also has a temperature controlled packing room so staff don’t freeze solid while packing pies. Since then it has also invested more than $2M, (two million dollars) on upgrading its bakery.

Managing Director Phil Pollett says this enables us to bring the bakery up to RMP export standard which required a major change to the way product flows through the bakery.

“We gutted the entire bakery, re-wired and re-plumbed it completely and then re-lined walls and ceilings with refrigeration panels so that we could temperature control the entire bakery to the best temperature for pie making.

“We included LED lighting throughout, which saves us 80 percent on our lighting bill and along with other technical changes have reduced our power bill by 40% overall.
We also built, ventilated and temperature controlled our dedicated pastry room to control flour in the air. This makes it more comfortable for staff and minimises flour dust getting in to equipment and up their noses.”

In October 2013 Goodtime Pies closed the bakery for two weeks for the renovations and staff got a holiday, they reopened and have since spent a further $1.1 million on new machinery and equipment to improve productivity and to make it easier for everyone.

“We have invested heavily in our staff, training them how to manage an export rated bakery and putting them through the HPWI program sponsored by Business Hawkes Bay and the Hastings District Council.

We gave all staff a $1 per hour pay rise in recognition of their increased skill levels and their support for the changes we have made to date.
Goodtimes’ goal is to be an attractive place for people to work. We upgraded staff facilities to help make this dream come true by spending $240,000k on their facilities.”

After six months at Goodtime all staff also get free medical insurance.

“We have written our own training units which are specific to our plant but have ensured, with help from Competenz, that they relate directly to NZQA equivalents so staff can get NZQA credits to add to their CV’s.,” said Mr Pollett.

“By investing in our staff and the upgrade of our facilities we plan to become the premier pie makers in New Zealand. We already have significant national contracts with the likes of Z Energy, and several other national clients. By bringing our plant up to export standard international contracts are our next goal!” said Mr Pollett.

Goodtime Pies in Napier was founded in 1978 when we made approximately 30,000 pies per year; they have enjoyed substantial annual growth and now make almost 10 million pies each year. Adding the South Island bakery brings total annual sales up to 12 million pies.

Goodtimes’ latest investment in the future is to sign up for further training for its staff as a continuation of the HPWI programme.

This will give the staff a national certificate in Competitive Manufacturing Level 2 with 11 selected staff continuing on to Level 3.

“The investment is substantial, but we as a company don’t just pay lip service to investing in our people we see real value in up-skilling but of course expect a return on our investment through better productivity with the best way of achieving that being happy and capable staff. Further expansion is imminent,” says Mr Pollett.

Ends

© Scoop Media