Savages Hilltop Bakery is the St Johns Hill branch of a true Whanganui institution — a bakery name that has been part of the city since the Savage family opened their little cake shop on the corner of Duncan and Tinirau streets in the 1950s. Seventy years on, the original Whanganui East shop is still humming along, and the family's baking now reaches three stores, with Hilltop serving the St John's Hill Shopping Centre.
Inside, the cabinets are generous. The range spans fresh bread and fruit loaves, cakes, biscuits and a rolling line-up of slices, cheesecake, doughnuts, custard squares, tarts, danish and eclairs — and the ever-popular cronut. On the savoury side there are sandwiches and rolls, filled paninis and wraps, quiche, savouries and pasties, and pies in eighteen flavours, with fruit pies and cold family-size pies for the fridge or freezer on top of that.
The bakers love creating new flavours and new lines, so the selection never gets old. Whether you're after a hearty meal, a light lunch, a little treat or total indulgence, the friendly staff will point you in the right direction — and if you can't make it in, deliveries and two mobile sales van runs carry Savages baking to the rest of Whanganui.
On a rise above Whanganui, in the St John's Hill Shopping Centre, Savages Hilltop Bakery fills its cabinets with one of the most generous bakery line-ups in the city. It is one of three Savages stores, and it belongs to one of Whanganui's oldest baking stories — one that began when the Savage family opened a little cake shop on the corner of Duncan and Tinirau streets in the 1950s.
That original Whanganui East shop has been humming along ever since. The kitchen has been extended more than once to keep up with demand, a second bakery opened on Moana Street, and in time the Hilltop store carried the family's baking to St Johns Hill. Along the way, Savages added two mobile sales van runs and a delivery service, so the bread, pies and sweet treats travel well beyond the shopfronts.
The honest answer is: a lot. The sweet side covers cakes and fresh bread, biscuits and an ever-expanding range of slices, cheesecake, doughnuts and custard squares, tarts, danish and eclairs, plus fruit loaves for the bread bin. The savoury side is just as busy: sandwiches and rolls, paninis and wraps, quiche, savouries and pasties, and a pie cabinet of eighteen flavours, with fruit pies on top of that. Family-size pies are sold cold for the fridge or freezer, ready for an easy dinner at home.
The range has grown steadily as the business has — a steady increase, as they put it, in both places to buy and things to buy. The bakers love creating new flavours and new lines, and that means the selection never gets old. Regulars know to check the cabinet for whatever has just appeared.
If one item has stepped out of the cabinet and into local legend, it is the cronut — the flaky, layered pastry that sits somewhere between a croissant and a doughnut. Savages calls it 'the ever popular cronut', and customers go much further. One reviewer's verdict says it all: 'Your cronuts should be illegal. They are addictive and dangerous!'
It is the kind of treat people plan a trip around, and at Hilltop it shares the sweet display with doughnuts, eclairs and custard squares.
Savages pies draw the same devotion. 'That was like the first time I've enjoyed a bakery pie in years,' one customer wrote. 'Best pie I ever had.' With eighteen flavours in rotation, plus pasties, savouries and quiche alongside, there is plenty to work through — whether you want a hearty lunch on the spot or a family pie to take home for later.
The team behind the counter keeps the promise simple: whether you're after a hearty meal, a light lunch, a little treat or total indulgence, the friendly staff will point you in the right direction. That combination — proper lunches, serious baking and a warm welcome — is what has kept the Savages name at the centre of Whanganui's bakery scene for seven decades.
Savages is candid about what drives the business: 'We love baking and we love community, and we love that we get to combine the two.' Hilltop is the neighbourhood expression of that idea, baking for the St Johns Hill shops and the streets around them. If you can't get up the hill, the online shop takes orders, and the mobile van runs and deliveries bring the bakery to the rest of Whanganui. Fittingly, the postal address is still 127 Duncan Street — everything leads back to the corner where it all started.