Pie Minister rules

By Emma Sun
DELICIOUS value for money pies have won the Pie Minister the Cardinia Business Awards for 2011 in the Food and Wine Category.
Owners Will Gregory and Jo Baker take great pride in their family owned and run business, which has been operating since October 2008.
Will, an experienced pastry chef, said the keys to their success lay with various factors of their service.
“It comes from hard work and listening to what your customers’ needs are,” he said. “We offer great value for money and take a lot of pride in what we do and people realise that.”
They employ eight staff members, a large number of whom have been around since the shop first opened.
Will originally worked for a famous pie shop in Sydney, before deciding to open up in Pakenham.
“I was working for the lady and a lot of my ideas were making her quite a lot of money,” he said.
“We knew (Pakenham) was a growing area and there was really no competition so we knew we could give something a bit different that people hadn’t had before.”
Pie Minister produces homemade gourmet pies, cakes and coffee, with pies coming in family size and single serve.
Their award-winning pies feature more than 30 fillings including Thai, Indian, Mexican and the Great Aussie Beef Pie, made fresh daily.
All their meats, vegetables and fruit are supplied locally.
Pie Minister has previously been a finalist in the awards.
Will and Jo will open their second Pie Minister in Kooweerup in August orSeptember, allowing them to provide even more pies to people around the area.