Georgie Pie Intro..

Georgie Pie was a fast food chain owned by supermarket operator Progressive Enterprises that hoped to be "New Zealand’s own homegrown alternative to the global fast-food industry giants such as McDonald’s, Pizza Hut and Burger King."

Georgie Pie was the brainchild of Tom Ah Chee, the same man who opened New Zealand's first supermarket (Foodtown Otahuhu, 1958). The first restaurant was opened in Kelston, Auckland in 1977, and expanded considerably in the 1990s.

In 1994, plans were announced to open 25 new outlets per year, with the goal of having 114 restaurants operating by year's end, 1998. The chain came to prominence in the early 1990s with its $1, $2, $3, and $4 "Funtastic Value" menu where everything was one of those four prices, including the popular $1 "Small Pie." At its peak, the chain employed about 1,300 people, 80% of whom were under 20 years old; many of the employees were paid less than employees of rival fast food chain McDonald's. The franchise had hourly youth rates, starting from five dollars for 15 year olds, compared to the then-hourly rate of $8.41 (in 1996) at McDonald’s, regardless of age (as of 2006 McDonald's was also paying youth rates).

The selling of pies allowed Georgie Pie to automate the food production process far more than other chains, which sold more labour-intensive items such as burgers, were able to. It did however mean that Georgie Pie managers had to plan their pie production 40 minutes ahead (the time it took to bake a pie) as opposed to the few minutes it takes to prepare a burger.

The Georgie Pie
The large pies at Georgie Pie were sold in small, unique boxes. Inside the box, the pie was encased in a paper sleeve so it could be eaten without being directly touched with the hand. Small pies were sold in bags. The large pies were a round shape, and the small pies a distinctive square shape. Fruit pies were a smaller round shape. The large pies ranged in a variety of traditional (mince n' cheese/steak n' kidney) and exotic flavours (chinese/mexican/italian).

The pastry was distinctively solid and unflakey to avoid spills and mess. A state of the art factory which produced Georgie Pies was located in Manukau City, Auckland. The new automated factory replaced the original factory which operated out of Favona Road (behind Progressive Enterprises Head Office). This new factory was designed to support the continued expansion of the brand both locally and internationally. It was capable of producing 6,000+ pies per hour which were snap frozen (in a spiral freezer) in a raw state. Frozen pies were distributed to stores where they were freshly baked using impinger (conveyor) ovens. At the time it opened, the factory was Progessive Enterprises' 2nd biggest investment ever.

The overhead costs associated with this factory could only be offset by increasing production via the opening of more outlets and by increasing supply (of a 'basic' brand pie) to the supermarket chains (Foodtown & Countdown). The decision by a short term CEO at Progressive, not to continue with planned expansion was a key factor in the demise of the brand. This decision was based on his view that pies were unhealthy and demand for them would diminish (see 'Listener' front page article).


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia