Golden crust and gourmet dreams: New Zealand’s tastiest competition heats up

The search is on for New Zealand’s best pie for 2025 and the judges have a big batch of baked goods to sort through.

Thousands of pies were tested this week as judging panels tasted their way through the 27th annual New Zealand Bakels Supreme Pie Awards.

Bakers in Aotearoa rank among the top pie makers in the world, and this year’s head judge, Ian Moore, attributes their success to a “pure passion” for high-quality and innovative baking.

Moore has over 40 years of industry experience and operates both a pastry manufacturing plant and a pie-making facility in Aotearoa. This year, he steps into the head judge position for the first time.

“I've been involved with pies all my life as well. Absolutely enjoying it,” Moore tells PMN News. “There's great varieties in there this year. I get to judge when it comes to the supreme, which is the category winners.

“[It’s] absolutely a pleasure and Bakels is doing an amazing job in the baking industry with this competition every year.”

With hundreds of entries ranging from the classic Potato Top and the breakfast staple Bacon and Egg to the more adventurous options like Gourmet Meat and Café Boutique, the categories are designed to highlight beloved staples and inspire new ideas in pie-making.

Each section will award bronze, silver, and gold placings, and the Supreme Pie Award will be chosen from the gold finalists.

It’s the job of 20 judges, many of whom have decades of experience in the baking industry, to narrow down the selection from around 5000 entries to about 30 to 50 top pies for tasting.

Who bakes the best Mince and Cheese? Photo/Atutahi Potaka-Dewes

Meaty masterpieces

Nici Wikes and Richard Meihana were judging the Gourmet Meat section when PMN News caught up with them.

This category celebrates the imagination and creativity of bakers across the motu, allowing for unique fillings such as king prawn with onion, tomato, mushroom and Tom Yum; caramelised plum sugar with pork belly and quail; nacho pie, and even beloved Pacific flavours in a Palusami pie.

Wikes, who is a published cookbook author, entertainer, broadcaster, food stylist, recipe developer, and food editor, is also this year’s celebrity judge.

As she tastes a braised brisket pie with Asian-style spices, Wikes says classic Kiwi dish are “hearty” and “unique to us”.

Head judge Ian Moore (centre) joins in on the deliberation phase. Photo/Atutahi Potaka-Dewes

“Sometimes you get a family-style pie in other countries, but here we do this individual pie. I think it's hearty," Wikes says

“I think it really suits our culture. You can eat one while you're watching a game of rugby or league on the sidelines, and you can get them anywhere, and I think they're very accessible. You can buy a $2 pie.

“I'm not saying that that's going to be the best pie of your life.. They're very unique to us.”

Meihana recently tasted a spicy prawn pie and a beef with chilli pie. Although he isn’t a “big fan” of spicy food, he says it is a difficult category to judge.

“It's actually quite tricky. It's like if you keep smelling things, you kind of need cocoa beans to reset yourself. You've got to drink some water to get a reset. But the variety's good.”

Richard Meihana (far left) joins the Bakels New Zealand judges tasked with finding the country's top pie. Photo/BakelsNZ Supreme Pie Awards/Facebook

From pies to points

While some may consider themselves pie connoisseurs, panel deliberation is more complex than merely having eaten many pies.

“People just think, ‘oh, I eat a lot of pies. I should be able to judge’,” Moore says.

“It starts with it's got to look good because that's what sells. People buy with their eyes, and then the expectation is that the look of it hopefully tastes as good as it looks.”

Before tasting, judges already score the pies based on their visual appeal, considering factors such as shape, weight, colour, and finish.

From there, the pies move on to the most critical stage: tasting.

Judges can sample hundreds of pies across 11 categories, tasting up to 50 entries in popular categories like Mince and Cheese and Steak and Cheese - roughly eight whole pies.

Which pie will claim the best claasic Mince and Cheese? Photo/Atutahi Potaka-Dewes

Points are assigned, with six points for the top appearance, eight for the base, 12 for overall look, eight for filling, and 16 for flavour - the latter being the decisive factor when pies are neck and neck.

As Moore stresses, when it comes down to closely-matched pies, it is the flavour that decides who takes gold.

Brent Kersel, the Managing Director of NZ Bakels, will make the “Golden Call” to the 11 Gold Award winners on Friday.

The Supreme Pie Awards dinner will be held at the Cordis Hotel in Tāmaki Makaurau on 29 July.