Goodtime, a pie manufacturer based in Napier, New Zealand, has received an award at the Vegan Sausage Awards for its gourmet vegan sausage roll.
The awards are held annually by the New Zealand Vegan Society. This year, Goodtime won in the Best Sausage Roll category with its Café Vegan Sausage Roll.
This continues the company’s winning streak after receiving both the winner and runner-up awards in 2020 in the Best Commercial Vegan Pie category.
This year’s win is confirmation of the great work the team is doing, according to Goodtime managing director Eric Hill.
“Vegan products are now a significant part of our business and further proof that vegans, vegetarians and flexitarian meat-eaters are all enjoying vegan products,” Hill said.
“Vegan sausage rolls, pies and snacks are appealing to a wide range of people and even meat eaters, an increasing number of whom enjoy eating meat but want to eat less of it.
“Vegan products now make up 14 per cent of our total production, which is significant,” he said.
The winning vegan sausage roll was developed in mid-2020 by Goodtime in-house chef Paul Barber. When it was launched, the company found itself fielding numerous calls from people who couldn’t believe it didn’t contain meat.
The Café Vegan Sausage Roll is plant-based, made from pea protein with herbs and spices and wrapped in flaky pastry.
Goodtime launched its first vegan product in 2015 – a Mexican pie – and has released a new vegan product each year to meet the demand for plant-based foods from its customers.
“There was a gap in the market for a vegan option that was snack size, so the sausage roll was born. Next on the schedule is a new cheesy jackfruit pie, which will be launched in August,” Hill said.
Goodtime employs 115 people across its two bakeries in Napier and Christchurch, baking approximately 60,000 pies a day. Around 14 million pies, rolls and savouries are baked every year, with the company’s pies accounting for around 20 per cent of the total pie sales in New Zealand.
According to the New Zealand Vegan Society, supermarkets throughout the country have noticed a huge increase in plant-based product sales, across all product ranges: milks, meats, ice creams, cheese, burgers and sausages.
As more people become concerned for their health, they seek to reduce their meat and dairy intake.
“The biggest driver for us is that we produce tasty pies and products, traditional or vegan,” Hill said.
The Café Vegan Sausage Rolls are available at New Zealand service stations and selected cafés, lunch bars and dairies.