Since winning the award for the country's best and, unarguably prettiest pie, Viands Bakery has gone from making 300 pies a day to 500 and their turnover has risen by 30 to 40 per cent.
"Basically everything went up. It's quite hard to keep up with demand," Mrs Kearns said.
Viands went from selling four to five of the spiced plum, port and apple pie with a petal-topped pastry a day to between 450 and 500 the week after it was named the favourite.
But it's not just the award-winning pie that has been a hit for the Kihikihi bakery, they've also been selling bread, cakes, slices and filled rolls.
The Kearns, who already work seven days a week, have roped in friends and family on top of the 20-plus team to help them keep up with demand.
Kathy's older brother Grayson is working in the kitchen and they can't wait for Kearn's parents John and Linda Atwill and younger brother Shannon to move up from Hawkes Bay to help run the family business. They jokingly call themselves the "baking mafia'
"We are not starting any earlier but we are working these people harder," Mrs Kearns said.
At lunchtime cars are parked up one both sides of the road outside the bakery, and another two rows are queued up in the parking area. "It's like a drive-through."
The Kearns and Atwills bought Viands in November 2010 to pursue their dream of owning a family-run bakery and so far it has more than exceeded their expectations.
Mrs Kearns said they knew their pies were good from their 16 years running the Wairoa Bakery but didn't expect to take out the baking world's two biggest awards in the first year.
"We knew we were successful in the last bakery but we didn't know how it would go with a new team, new bakery and new temperatures even."
