19th Annual APC/Crisco National Pie Championships

The competition among commercial bakers heated up this year at the 19th Annual APC/Crisco National Pie Championships held April 26-28 in Orlando, Fla., as 15 bakeries laid claim to 113 awards out of 330 entries. Overall, 747 pies were entered in the event’s Commercial, Professional and Amateur Chef categories. The pies were judged by more than 150 pre-qualified volunteer chefs, bakers and assorted pie aficionados.

Commercial bakers competed in 25 flavor options, including California Raisin, sponsored by the California Raisin Marketing Board, and Best New Product. They also competed in six flavors of no-sugar-added pies as well as single-serve slices, hand-held pies and gourmet hand-finished pies.

Competitors assigned their pie entries based on wholesale cost and pie size. Independent bakers with $1 million or less in annual pie sales were able to participate in a new division within the commercial bakers’ competition.

The 2013 top commercial entrants are listed below in order of their number of winning pies. A complete list of winners is available at www.piecouncil.org.

  • Bakers Square – 36
  • Legendary Baking – 24
  • Bonert’s Slice of Pie – 12
  • Rocky Mountain Pies – 6
  • Cyrus O’Leary’s Pies – 5
  • Lisa’s Pie Shop – 5
  • Winn-Dixie Food Stores – 5
  • Shari’s Cafe and Pies – 4
  • The Kroger Co. – 4
  • Norske Nook – 3
  • Publix Supermarkets – 3
  • The Pie Folks – 2
  • Coco’s Bakery Restaurant – 2
  • Boston Market – 1
  • Wayne’s Family Restaurants – 1

“The Commercial division in the APC/Crisco National Pie Championships is an incredible competition that showcases the best of the best commercial pie manufacturers and bakeries from across the country,” says APC executive director says Linda Hoskins. “We are so thankful to the participants that make it a priority to participate with us, not only in the competition, but in the Never Ending Pie Buffet.”

Each year, the National Pie Championships are held in conjunction with the free-admission Great American Pie Festival, which features the Never Ending Pie Buffet. This year’s festival was attended by nearly 40,000 pie lovers, who enjoyed close to 90,000 slices of pie at the buffet.

To register for the 2014 National Pie Championships, visit www.piecouncil.org.