Eves Pantry aims for 15 outlets

Simon Bennett hopes the new cafe-style shop at Sylvia Park will appeal to younger customers. Picture / Dean Purcell

Growing rates of obesity and low-carb diet trends aren't stalling growth of the Eves Pantry bakery chain.

Sausage rolls were the top seller when the first Eves Pantry opened in Epsom 58 years ago and remain top of the menu today, with around 4000 sold at the six stores each week.

And to keep pace with Auckland's hungry appetite for baked goods, the company plans to open three new stores annually for the next three years.

Managing director Simon Bennett said the goal was to reach 15 stores in Auckland and shopping malls were target locations.

Eves was set up in 1948 by an Auckland tramcar driver who named the shop after his wife. Early customers came from the tram barn which used to be across the road.

A pastry chef from Norway bought the business in the 1950s, adding a European influence that remains Eves' point of difference today - offering mousses, cheesecakes and other specialty cakes and pastries as well as traditional Kiwi baking.

Bennett is now the major owner after buying the business eight years ago and has since abandoned plans to franchise the stores.

Eves' products are made at its own bakehouse in Mt Wellington, which supplies the six stores which generate $10.5 million in sales.

Demand for low-carb, low-fat, organic and gluten-free foods has seen Eves, like others in the baking industry, adapt its menu to offer healthier options. Gluten-, egg- and dairy-free cakes are on the menu and there are plans to make some of the smaller items gluten-free as well.

The new cafe-style Eves Pantry at Sylvia Park is a forerunner to Eves' new direction into cafes, which Bennett hopes will broaden its appeal to younger customers.

Eves Pantry also supplies all the food for Starbucks cafes - which contribute 10 per cent of turnover - and some Foodtown and Woolworths supermarkets.

The company employs 160 staff.