‘Absolutely false’: CEO rejects iconic Australian snack at risk of dying as sales plummet
The CEO of Australia’s premier pie company has hit back at suggestions the meat pie – an Aussie icon – is in severe decline.
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The CEO of Australia’s premier pie company has hit back at suggestions that the humble meat pie is on the demise.
It comes after news.com.au first revealed Bureau of Statistics data which shows pie consumption is down a catastrophic 40 per cent from its peak during the Covid lockdowns, and that compared to 2017, 2018 and 2019, we are buying fewer supermarket and bakery pies.
But CEO of Patties Foods Paul Hitchcock told 3AW the figures don’t match his company’s experience.
“It’s absolute false,” he declared. “We are having a record year.”
“We are seeing strong growth in pies: petrol and convenience sales grew by 20 per cent, supermarkets are up, business has never been stronger.”
Patties is the largest meat pie producing company in Australia, and the world.
But it’s not Australian-owned any more, it was bought by Pacific Alliance Group (PAG) based in Hong Kong in 2021.
Mr Hitchcock added that in this economic climate pies are “really good value as a source of protein, 100 per cent Australian ingredients, Australian beef, Australian flour”.
He described the humble meat pie as “affordable” and “cheap”, before boasting Patties had just invested $20 million on production facilities to keep up with demand.
Jackson Garlick, former Bachelorette contestant and general manager of Garlo’s Pies, a family-owned business which now supplies pies to Coles and Woolies as well as exports them overseas, also objected to the analysis.
“Going to the beach on a 30 degree day and eating a hot pie doesn’t have the same appeal as an icy cold Zooper Dooper or a slurpee,” he said.
“What we did see is that Covid bucked this trend. Because people were stuck inside, the humble meat pie was chosen throughout both summer and winter. As Australia has rid itself of lockdowns and isolation and we’ve returned to normalcy, so has the rise and fall of pie sales across the year.”
But he noted the pie was no longer “so humble” with the company offering a broad range of filings such as Butter Chicken, Alaskan King Crab, Peking duck and Chilli Prawn Pie.
South Australian pie company Vili’s similarly said while competition is “fierce” among manufacturers they had not experienced a decline.
Other pie manufacturers admit times are tough.
Daniel Beuthner, the owner and CEO of the famous Harry’s Café de Wheels, which has 14 takeaway shops and supplies to Costco, said over the past six months there has been a decline “across almost all product sales, not just pies”.
Only the brand’s iconic Tiger pie has been resilient.
He attributes the decline to “cost of living pressures and the rise of non-Australian food alternatives”.
Mr Beauthner said Aussie brands like his try not to pass on rising costs to customers but admits it is a “tough balancing act that big corporations don’t care about as much as proudly Australian-owned family businesses”.
“The meat pie is as proudly Australian as it gets, with cheap burgers, burritos, pizzas and fried chicken kicking it while its down.”
-with Jason Murphy
Originally published as ‘Absolutely false’: CEO rejects iconic Australian snack at risk of dying as sales plummet
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