Georgie Pie to go national in gradual roll-out

Following a successful trial in selected North Island restaurants, McDonald’s has announced it will be launching Georgie Pie nationwide. It plans to have the Steak Mince ‘N’ Cheese pie available in two-thirds of its outlets nationwide by Christmas, with the remainder, excluding a handful of smaller restaurants without the space for ovens, expected to be selling Georgie Pies by mid-2014.

From October 21, eight restaurants in Gisborne, Wellington, Hawke’s Bay and the Bay of Plenty will be used as seeding restaurants to train staff in the regions and test distribution of the product.

After that, McDonald’s will begin to distribute the ovens required for baking the pies, manufactured by Christchurch company Moffat, to the remaining restaurants as the equipment becomes available. Goodman Fielder, which operates the former Georgie Pie plant in South Auckland, will increase production hours to accommodate the increase in demand.

Only the one pie flavour will be offered at this stage, although McDonald’s New Zealand managing director Patrick Wilson says that the company is consulting with customers in regards to the development of other Georgie Pie favourites. The Steak Mince ‘N’ Cheese Georgie Pie will continue to be sold for $4.50.

As we recently reported, the Georgie Pie trial is being watched with considerable interest by McDonald’s divisions around the world, which perceive the baked goods market as having considerable potential for the company.