A healthy appetite for growth

Phil Pollett, managing director of Goodtime Pies, said the company's target is to start exporting their product. Photo / Glenn Taylor

Export orders are the goal for Napier company Goodtime Pies.

The Napier company, one of New Zealand's largest manufacturers and distributors of pies, has spent close to $3 million on its Hawke's Bay bakery, through plant upgrades and staff training.

The 36-year-old company reversed a period of decline in 2011, when it won a multi-million dollar deal to supply hundreds of Z Energy service stations throughout the country.

Managing director Phil Pollett said while Z Energy was its biggest single customer, it was easily less than half its business, as the rest was predominantly corporate and government contracts.

It now makes 10 million pies a year in Napier and two million in its Christchurch facility.

In 2012, a $660,000 investment in a freezer complex gave it the capacity to hold 275 pallets (82 tonne) of frozen pies, sausage rolls and savouries. Since then, more than $2 million has been spent on bakery upgrades.

To reach export standard, they had to modify the plant production process.

Mr Pollett said "we gutted the entire bakery, re-wired and re-plumbed it completely and then re-lined walls and ceilings with refrigeration panels so that we could temperature control the entire bakery to the best temperature for pie-making."

"We included LED lighting throughout, which saves us 80 per cent on our lighting bill, and, along with other technical changes, have reduced our power bill by 40 per cent overall.

"We also built, ventilated and temperature-controlled our dedicated pastry room to control flour in the air. This makes it more comfortable for staff, and minimises flour dust getting in to equipment and up noses."

Last year, an additional $1.1 million was spent on new equipment, but human resources also benefited.

"We have invested heavily in our staff, training them how to manage an export-rated bakery and putting them through the High Performance Work Initiative program sponsored by Business Hawke's Bay and the Hastings District Council."

The initiative helps firms engage specialist business consultants to help increase productivity.

Mr Pollett said, "it is a general approach to improving workplaces, involving high levels of employee engagement and enhanced workplace practices to raise productivity."

"We gave all staff a $1 per hour pay rise in recognition of their increased skill levels and their support for the changes we have made to date.

"Goodtime's goal is to be an attractive place for people to work. We upgraded staff facilities to help make this dream come true by spending $240,000 on their facilities."

Further expansion was imminent, he said.

"The investment is substantial, but we, as a company, don't just pay lip service to investing in our people, we see real value in up-skilling.

"And, of course, we expect a return on our investment through better productivity; the best way of achieving that is with happy and capable staff."