Pieman shows his winning wares

John Newell is not being cheesy when he says he makes one of the best pies in New Zealand.

Not a man to mince words, his Hamilton-based company has scooped the gold award in the commercial/wholesale mince and cheese section of the prestigious 2009 Bakels New Zealand Supreme Pie Awards.

The company was a silver medallist in the section, only open to producers of more than 60,000 pies a week, last year. Mr Newell is as proud as pastry they could return in 2009 to claim the title at a glitzy awards ceremony held in Auckland on Tuesday night.

A regular around the Waikato, Oxford's award-winning mince and cheese pies are made from 100 per cent New Zealand beef, and 100 per cent New Zealand grated colby cheese, a combination which Mr Newell calls "a Kiwi staple".

Oxford Pies has been a Waikato institution since the first pies were created in the late 1970s, and is now a family business, with Mr Newell and his wife Robyn, former Taranaki dairy farmers, owning the company for 13 years. Daughters Amy and Melanie are also involved.

Mr Newell designed most of their Te Rapa factory, which opened in 2002, himself.

Oxford Pies weren't the only Waikato winners on Tuesday night, with Thames' Food for Thought bakery scooping a gold in the chicken and vegetable section, while other bakeries from Hamilton, Taupo, Otorohanga and Matamata also picked up silver, bronze and highly commended awards in various sections.

Tauranga's Goldstar Patricks Pies Bakery & Cafe won the supreme pie award for their gourmet creamy bacon, mushroom & cheese pie.

- © Fairfax NZ News