Homemade pies fill gap in the market

Maree Glading and Jessie Stanley produce several thousand gourmet pies a week. Photo / Steven McNicholl

Back from living overseas, Jessie Stanley and Maree Glading spotted a gap in the market for $20 homemade pies, despite a tough economic environment.

They started their Auckland-based business, The Lovely Little Food Company, in 2008.

Their family-size pies sell to a high-end clientele through stores such as Nosh and Farro Fresh. They retail from about $20 for meat to about $16 for the boysenberry and apple dessert pie.

On their first day of trading, they sold 100 in half an hour and the company now makes several thousand pies a week.

The Lovely Little Food Company has two brands - I Love Pies and I Love Sauce - and last year revenue grew by 25 per cent.

This year revenue is expected to double.

Stanley and Glading founded the company on $3000, with $1500 spent on a delivery van. Three years on, they expect revenue of more than $1 million for 2011.

The duo had their critics, some branding them mad for starting a company during a recession, but they thought that if the business survived a downturn, there was a chance it would be successful.

Glading said some manufacturers were focused on reducing the amount of dairy and meat products used in production, which had been responsible for a decline in pie quality.

All the produce in the company's pies was sustainably and organically sourced locally, Stanley said.

"There is thought behind what we do. We could have put the pies in a box, we choose not to. We use a plastic wrapper, it's not recycling but it's a reduction in packaging.

"All the ingredients, everything is found in a pantry. We developed it in our kitchen, it's what you would find in a recipe book."

Glading said they had to strike a balance between a pie that was commercially viable and a product that was still homely.

The pies have a shorter shelf life than other brands because they do not contain preservatives, additives or anti-moulding agents.

"We don't cut any corners. Each pie is made by hand using real ingredients, fresh vegetables and herbs and lovely quality meat, the kind of stuff you cook with at home."