{"id":464857,"date":"2026-06-07T03:18:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T03:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/464857\/"},"modified":"2026-06-07T03:18:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T03:18:09","slug":"rotorua-bakers-pie-innovation-remembered-in-the-50-year-story-of-mcdonalds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/464857\/","title":{"rendered":"Rotorua baker\u2019s pie innovation remembered in the 50-year story of McDonald\u2019s"},"content":{"rendered":"

Behind the scenes, the development process came at a turbulent time in Sykes\u2019 career. His Rotorua business, Richmond Foods, was under significant financial strain in the mid-1970s, with debts mounting after cashflow issues and the collapse of several of his clients.<\/p>\n

Working long hours making pastry at night and delivering it across the North Island by day, Sykes faced the prospect of losing the business altogether, a Macca\u2019s-produced book called Golden Arches Under Southern Skies, Celebrating 35 Years of McDonald\u2019s in New Zealand, said.<\/p>\n

A turning point came when he was urged to collect outstanding debts and scale back operations – a move that stabilised his finances and allowed him to continue trading.<\/p>\n

It was during this period that he crossed paths with McDonald\u2019s representatives, who were seeking suppliers capable of producing food to strict specifications and at scale.<\/p>\n

Sykes agreed to take on the apple pie challenge, despite initially having limited production capability. He developed early samples that required precise preparation, including being frozen before frying at a controlled temperature.<\/p>\n

When the order came through for the opening of New Zealand\u2019s first McDonald\u2019s restaurant, Sykes was tasked with producing 1152 pies – a significant leap from his existing output.<\/p>\n

Faced with the demand, he worked around the clock to engineer new machinery, building a press that could scale production from one pie at a time to dozens in a single run.<\/p>\n

McDonald\u2019s said the pressure of opening day demand highlighted limitations in early production methods, with Sykes continuing to adapt and refine his processes as orders increased.<\/p>\n

A story published by the Rotorua Daily Post<\/a> in 2013 said Sykes started Richmond Foods with his wife and was named Business Personality of the Year at the inaugural business awards in 1991. Richmond Foods was named Big Business of the Year.<\/p>\n

Sykes hadn\u2019t bothered to enter the awards and was convinced at the last minute by then-mayor Grahame Hall, who had visited the factory.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey really twisted my arm, so I entered and filled in the forms,\u201d Skyes said in the article. <\/p>\n

His contribution is one of 50 stories McDonald\u2019s New Zealand is sharing to mark the milestone, highlighting local suppliers, innovations and individuals involved in establishing the brand in Aotearoa.<\/p>\n

\" New items on menu 1988 – nuggets, McChicken, cookies and hot chocolate. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

The anniversary also reflects on key developments over the past five decades, including the rollout of drive-thru restaurants in the late 1970s and the introduction of menu items such as the Kiwiburger in 1991. <\/p>\n

From a single Porirua outlet to more than 170 restaurants nationwide, McDonald\u2019s says its growth has been shaped by local franchisees, workers and suppliers. <\/p>\n

The Taup\u014d McDonald\u2019s, which features a decommissioned DC3 plane, has also been named the world\u2019s \u201ccoolest\u201d McDonald\u2019s.<\/p>\n

The company is also revisiting the opening day itself, when more than 100 people lined up before 10am and entertainment marked the occasion. <\/p>\n

Fifty years on, McDonald\u2019s says those early efforts \u2013 including the work of local suppliers such as Sykes \u2013 remain a defining part of its New Zealand story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Behind the scenes, the development process came at a turbulent time in Sykes\u2019 career. His Rotorua business, Richmond…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":464858,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[235519,145225,138,78,374,10167,111,139,69,1118,70012,15120,1327,427,223],"class_list":["post-464857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-50year","tag-bakers","tag-business","tag-in","tag-innovation","tag-mcdonalds","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-pie","tag-remembered","tag-rotorua","tag-story","tag-the"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464857\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/464858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}