Competition fiercer than ever

Competition fiercer than ever

Entries have now closed for the 20th Bakels NZ Supreme Pie Awards. There will be fierce competition when the 538 bakers begin perfecting their pie recipes in the hope of reigning supreme and taking home the much sought after trophy.

With judging day just around the corner, 21 judges are gearing up to judge over 5200 pies, set to be judged at the Bakels New Zealand Headquarters in Auckland. On the judging panel this year is 5-year pie award veteran and chief judge Tim Aspinall, and celebrity chef Mark Southon, along with a panel of 19 industry experts to taste and grade the pie creations.

The pie entries cover 12 categories: mince and gravy, steak and cheese, steak and gravy, chicken and vegetable, gourmet meat, vegetarian, bacon and egg, mince and cheese, gourmet fruit, café boutique, potato top pie and commercial wholesale.

Kiwi’s favourite pie, Steak & Cheese has the most entries at 360, followed by Mince & Cheese with 345 – competition is sure to be intense! All previous Supreme winners from the past 19 years have entered this year’s awards, hoping to win the trophy and the glory once again.

The Café Boutique category, now in its fourth year, has a record amount of 100 entries compared to 61 last year, pushing café bakers to step up their game tremendously in the hopes to win Gold.

Once judging day is completed, bakers will be eagerly awaiting the ‘golden phone call’, inviting them to Auckland to attend the awards evening on the 26th July at Sky City. Jeremy Corbett is set to be the MC for the evening along with a great line up of celebrity award presenters.

The Supreme winner will walk away with the coveted trophy and $7,500 cash, with Gold winners from each category taking home $1,000 cash. Who will reign supreme?

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