Kai Pai Bakery has taken gold at the 2026 New Zealand
Bakels Supreme Pie Awards, with its Mince & Cheese Pie
winning top honours in the Commercial/Wholesale
category.
Announced at the awards ceremony held in
Auckland on Tuesday, 4 August, the result reinforces Kai Pai
Bakery’s reputation as one of New Zealand’s leading pie
producers and recognises the quality and consistency of its
flagship pie.
Pai Mince and Cheese Pie
(Photo/Supplied)
Kai Pai head
baker Jason Danielson said the award was particularly
meaningful given the bakery’s long-standing success in the
competition.
“We’re incredibly proud to win Gold again
in the Commercial/Wholesale category. Our commercial Mince
& Cheese Pie has been recognised at every Bakels Supreme
Pie Awards since 2017, and that’s something we’re pretty
proud of,” Danielson says. “Our pastry and filling are
very consistent, and that’s what wins awards. The pie the
judges taste comes straight off the production line and is
exactly the same as the pie our customers buy every
day.”
The New Zealand Bakels Supreme Pie Awards were
established in 1996 and have grown into one of the country’s
most prestigious food competitions, attracting around 600
entries annually. Pies are judged blind by independent
baking industry experts across multiple criteria, including
pastry quality, filling, flavour profile, baking performance
and overall presentation.
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“What’s especially pleasing
is that our Mince & Cheese Pie has also been recognised
three times in the traditional Mince & Cheese category,
where we’re often competing against smaller-batch and
sometimes handmade pies,” Danielson adds. “It shows that
large-scale production and exceptional quality can go
hand-in-hand.”
and Julie Danielson, Kai Pai Bakery Wanaka
(Photo/Supplied)
The award
continues a remarkable run of success for Kai Pai’s Mince
& Cheese Pie, which has picked up two Gold and two
Silver awards in the Commercial/Wholesale category. It has
also earned recognition three times in the traditional Mince
& Cheese category since 2019.
Produced in Wānaka
and sold throughout NZ, Kai Pai’s Mince & Cheese Pie
remains one of the bakery’s most popular products. But
Danielson says the winning formula isn’t
complicated.
“You’ve got to have enough cheese in
there, your mince has to be great, and we’re known for
having very good pastry,” he says. “The support we receive
from customers around NZ means a lot to us. Every award is a
reflection of the hard work our team puts in every day, and
we’re grateful that people continue to choose Kai
Pai.”
Employing 45 staff, Kai Pai Bakery is a
Kiwi-owned family business, producing all pies and savouries
in Wānaka. The bakery has collected more than 30 awards at
the Bakels Supreme Pie Awards over the past decade and is
recognised as NZ’s most-awarded commercial pie
manufacturer.