Montana met with its Maketū-based team on Monday to inform them of the sale and a proposal to close the factory when its lease ends in December.
Montana Group chief executive Lizzi Pearson said it would support staff as they digested the news.
She said the factory lease ending provided an opportunity to “take stock and consider how the brand’s next-level potential can be maximised”.
The factory on Little Waihi Rd was established in 1982, the year Maketū Pies was founded by a local family.
Pearson said the factory had been extended several times and was no longer fit for purpose.
“The factory would realistically require a full rebuild to accommodate further production growth and product storage – without that, Maketū Pies has reached capacity at the site.
“Whether that next chapter takes place in Maketū or in another manufacturing location will be the decision of the new owner.”
Pearson said the company was proud of its achievements with Maketū Pies, including “significant growth” in nationwide distribution, increased demand and positive feedback.
Maketū Pies general manager Craig Williams told the Rotorua Daily Post the team of 28 – including fulltime and casual workers – took the news “as well as could be expected”.
“The team have got a lot of respect for how the business has been run since Montana’s taken it over.
“It’s never easy through these types of things because nobody knows at this stage what the outcome’s going to be, but we’ve got a team of people who really deserve to know what’s going on.”
Williams said a new buyer could be interested in running the business in the same facility, which would be the “best possible outcome” for the team, hopefully enabling jobs to be retained.
Another possible outcome was that a new buyer may already have a factory – in the Bay of Plenty or elsewhere, he said.
Maketū Pies general manager Craig Williams has led the brand’s push to get its pies back into dairy and service station warmers. Photo / Annabel Reid
Williams said the team had put a lot of energy, effort and resources into “putting the brand back on the map and delivering a really good quality product”.
“We’ve got a brand and a product that genuinely does exist out of a community of people … and I think if there’s a new owner that can bring that on and continue the work that we’ve done around making sure that we keep honouring that tradition, then that’s the best outcome we can hope for, really.”
Williams said if the factory proposal went ahead, “we’re seeing this as the close of our chapter”.
“But we really hope that the next chapter carries on the work that’s been done and can leave our team really proud of what they’ve done to get us where we are.”
He said staff had the opportunity to provide feedback on the factory proposal.
Decisions would be made next week.
Almost tripling production
Williams said Montana’s strategy when it took over the business was a brand “refresh”.
After buying the business out of liquidation, Williams said there was a “fair perception” that the brand and quality had “slipped” since its heyday.
“So that was one of the first things we needed to fix.”
The business focused on quality ingredients and “delivering a really top-quality product”.
For the first six to eight months, it tried to “put Maketū back on the map”.
“Over the last 12 months, we’ve very much been focused on … getting back into back into pie warmers.”
In its prime, the pies were in more than 1000 pie warmers nationally, he said.
“When Montana picked up the business in late 2024, that number was down to less than 100 pie warmers. Today, it’s more than 600 and growing, as well as on more than 200 different supermarket shelves.
“We’ve more than doubled, almost tripled the production, and revenue of the business during that time … the team’s been amazing.”
Megan Wilson is a health and general news reporter for the Bay of Plenty Times and the Rotorua Daily Post. She has been a journalist since 2021.
Clarification
An earlier version of this story said 28 jobs were at risk if the factory closes. Maketu Pies has clarified there are 21 full-time roles at risk. Other impacted roles are casual.