Gleeson & Cox truckie pie fans Mohammed Buksh and Mark Pel hoeing into a meaty pie. Photo /supplied
It's that time of year again. Pie time!
Entries for the 23rd annual Bakels NZ Supreme Pie Awards have opened, with a new category to tempt other bakers to enter the prestigious awards.
In honour of pie-loving hard workers, NZ Bakels managing director Brent Kersel
said the Steak & Gravy category had been renamed the Truckie and Tradie category.
So what is a truckie and tradie pie and who makes the best one?
That's a question on the lips of pie consumers across New Zealand.
Kersel said the truckie and tradie pie was filled with succulent steak and rich gravy and surrounded by golden pastry.
"We have it on good knowledge that truckies and tradies love steak and gravy pies. Many of them rank this flavour the highest.
"So in honour of these pie-loving hard workers, we've renamed our Steak & Gravy category the Truckie and Tradie category, in the Bakels NZ Supreme Pie Awards."
Kersel said truckies and tradies were loyal to their favourite bakeries.
"We're hoping they tell their favourite bakery how good their pies are because we want as many bakers as possible to enter the pie awards," he said.
Last year Patrick Lam of Goldstar Patrick's Pies in Tauranga and Rotorua won the supreme award for the sixth time, the most awarded baker ever.
Kersel said the Bakels NZ Supreme Pie Awards celebrate New Zealand's favourite convenience food, with more than 100 million pies eaten in New Zealand every year.
The competition also gives credit to the bakers that strive to make the perfect pie.
"It costs nothing to enter the Pie Awards, so bakers, what are you waiting for? You could make baking history with that truckie and tradie pie," he said.
Entries close at 5pm on June 27 and judging takes place on July 25, with the winners announced on July 30.
To enter visit https://pieawards.nz/ or phone 0800 743 546 for an entry pack.
The contentious bill will have its first reading in Parliament this afternoon.