It’s footy finals season and for Tasmanian Bakeries’ fan-favourite National Pies, that means firing up the ovens and baking more than one million fresh, flaky pies and pastries for fans nationwide.

National Pies sees its biggest surge in pie-loving fans as AFL and NRL finals heat up, and the sheer scale of production is staggering. In the weeks leading up to finals, the Hobart bakery runs 24 hours a day, using tons of Australian beef and thousands of bags of Tasmanian flour to produce enough pies to fill the MCG 10 times over. 

National Pies CEO Geraldine Tebbutt says September is like Christmas coming early at the bakery, with the National Pies elves working overtime to keep up with the demand.

“Our bakery turns into Santa’s workshop each September as the team gears up for the flood of footy finals orders,” she said.

“We know Aussies love our fresh range of Little Pies and Little Sausage Rolls, so we will be working around the clock to ensure they have their ultimate footy finals favourites.

“Every pie is made from scratch daily, and within hours of manufacturing, our pies, sausage rolls and pasties are being sent across the Bass Strait, direct to our customers in the ready-meal aisle of Australia’s leading supermarkets. It’s an enormous effort from the team, but one that ensures fans enjoy the most convenient pies possible.”

National Pies products are available in every Australian city through Woolworths nationwide, selected Coles supermarkets, and many independent retailers such as IGA and FoodWorks. They are also served hot in select Bunnings Cafe & Cart locations.

Of the 10.6 million Australians who ‘like to eat pies, pasties and sausage rolls’, National Pies says NSW takes the biggest bite accounting for 31% of the nation’s ‘pie eaters’. 

With Victoria staking its claim as the home of AFL, and Queensland flying the flag for NRL, the battle for pie supremacy is just as fierce as the one on the field. “Having just launched our fresh range of National Pies into NSW, it will be interesting to see if we will experience more sales in the two weeks leading up to the AFL finals or the two weeks before the NRL finals. The team at the bakery is already placing bets,” Ms Tebbutt said.