Napier-based pie maker Goodtime has scooped a top award at the Vegan Sausage Awards for its gourmet vegan sausage roll.
The awards, held annually by the New Zealand Vegan Society, saw Goodtime take out the Best Sausage Roll category with its Café Vegan Sausage Roll, continuing the winning streak for Goodtime that saw the company take out both the winner and runner-up awards in 2020 in the Best Commercial Vegan Pie category.
Vegan products are now a significant part of Goodtime’s business, accounting for 14% of its total production.
“Vegans, vegetarians and flexitarian meat-eaters are all enjoying vegan products. Vegan sausage rolls, pies and snacks are appealing to a wide range of people and even meat eaters, an increasing number of whom enjoy eating meat but want to eat less of it,” says Goodtime managing director Eric Hill.
Goodtime launched its first vegan product in 2015 – a Mexican pie – and has released a new vegan product annually to meet the demand for plant-based foods from its customers. The sausage roll was developed by Goodtime’s inhouse chef Paul Barber and is plant-based, made from pea protein with herbs and spices, and wrapped in flaky pastry.
“There was a gap in the market for a vegan option that was snack size, so the sausage roll was born. Next on the schedule is a new cheesy jackfruit pie, which will be launched in August,” adds Eric.
Goodtime employs 115 people across its two bakeries in Napier and Christchurch, baking approximately 60,000 pies a day. Around 14 million pies, rolls and savouries are baked every year, with the company’s pies accounting for around 20% of the total pie sales in New Zealand.