From Wanaka, this 100% Kiwi-owned, family-run bakery is the team behind Kai Pai Pies & Savouries — proudly the Most Awarded Commercial Pie Bakery in New Zealand. Whether you're after a rich, meaty classic or a vegan vegetable curry pie, there's an award-winning flavour for you, all built the way Kiwis like them: generous fillings in light, buttery pastry.
The story began in 2010 with a small retail bakery on the main street of Queenstown. Jason Danielson's passion for pie-making carried the business to a large commercial manufacturing operation in Wanaka within three years. Today the bakery turns out roughly 23,000 pies a day — with capacity for 50,000+ — across two production lines capable of around 8,000 pies an hour, with 2-3 tonnes of pastry made every night. The range is distributed nationally to food service, convenience and supermarket channels.
The flagship Mince & Cheese Pie took Gold in the Commercial/Wholesale category at the 2026 New Zealand Bakels Supreme Pie Awards, adding to a trophy cabinet the bakery says is unmatched by any other commercial pie manufacturer. Fans have their own honours list too — Lamb & Mint is a standing favourite, Butter Chicken is 'not far behind', and the vegan line-up, including the Vegan Roasted Vegetable Pie, earned award recognition of its own. Around the individual pies sit Family Pies with the same award-winning fillings in bigger sizes, plus rolls, petite savouries, Savouries Party Packs and Catering Packs.
It remains a truly family business at heart: Jason is the Head Baker and Julie Danielson handles orders, dispatch and everything in between. The bakery's purpose is to deliver high-quality, award-winning products at a realistic and sustainable price, while supporting other Kiwi businesses, children's charities and the local Wanaka community — including fundraising options for schools, clubs and teams. Look for the pies in pie warmers and supermarket freezers throughout New Zealand, or order online in the lower South Island.
Wanaka is home to one of New Zealand's great pie success stories. This is the home ground of Kai Pai Pies & Savouries, a 100% Kiwi-owned, family-run bakery that proudly holds the title of Most Awarded Commercial Pie Bakery in New Zealand. Whether you're after a rich, meaty classic or a vegan vegetable curry pie, there's an award-winning flavour waiting — the kind of pie Kiwis know and love, with generous fillings encased in light, buttery pastry, and a flavour list that doesn't leave out the classics.
The story began in 2010 with a small retail bakery on the main street of Queenstown. Jason Danielson's passion for making pies carried the business from that little shop to a large commercial manufacturing operation in Wanaka within just three years. Significant investment in facilities and equipment has since lifted capacity to more than 50,000 pies a day, with the bakery currently producing around 23,000. Two pie production lines can turn out roughly 8,000 pies an hour, and between two and three tonnes of pastry are made every single night.
For all that scale, the human story is a simple one. Jason is the Head Baker. Julie Danielson takes care of everything to do with orders and dispatch — among so many other things — to keep the factory and the orders rolling. It is, by every measure, a truly family-run business; the team jokes that the bosses are rarely seen dressed up, usually being covered in overalls and flour. The bakery's craft has even featured on national television, offering a look inside the factory and how the pies are made each day.
The flagship is the Mince & Cheese Pie, which struck Gold in the Commercial/Wholesale category at the 2026 New Zealand Bakels Supreme Pie Awards — and the pies submitted for that award are taken straight off the factory production line, so what wins is exactly what customers eat. Customers keep their own honours list, too: Lamb & Mint is a standing favourite ('my favourite by far', as one fan put it), with Butter Chicken 'not far behind', and another customer reported working through their third Steak & Cheese Family Pie in a row for dinner.
The range doesn't leave anyone out. There's a dedicated vegan and vegetarian line-up — including the Vegan Roasted Vegetable Pie, which earned award recognition in 2024 and reviews like 'I am disappointed it didn't last long enough.' Around the individual pies sit Family Pies with the same award-winning fillings and pastry in bigger sizes, plus rolls, petite savouries, Savouries Party Packs and Catering Packs for gatherings big and small.
The bakery's stated purpose is to deliver high-quality, award-winning products at a realistic and sustainable price, with customers able to have confidence in its values, ethics, sustainability, customer focus and operational performance. That pride extends well beyond the pastry bench: the business supports other Kiwi businesses, children's charities and the local Wanaka community, and offers four easy fundraising options for schools, clubs, teams and charities — because who doesn't love a freezer stash of pies and savouries for lunches, dinners and easy catering?
As Jason puts it, the brand is everything imaginable about being a Kiwi — green, earthy, strong, friendly, relaxed and fun, respectful of culture, and recognising Aotearoa's wonderful environment of flora and fauna.
You don't need to visit the factory to try them. Kai Pai Pies & Savouries are distributed nationwide to food service, convenience and retail supermarket channels — grab one from a pie warmer near you, or look for the Family Mince & Cheese Pie in the supermarket freezer aisle. In Otago, Southland and Canterbury, the full range — individual pies, family pies, party packs and catering packs — can be ordered online through Prime Range Fresh. Cafés, takeaways and stores can arrange wholesale supply, and a stockists list on the website points you to the nearest freezer or warmer.
However you get yours — a Lamb & Mint from the pie warmer or a Family Mince & Cheese baked at home — these are pies made with pride in Wanaka, by a family that hopes you love them as much as they do.