Today we bring you good and bad news about Hayden's Pies.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The good news is this most famous pie shop will remain firmly entrenched in Ulladulla but the bad news is we won't be able to stroll to our local supermarket and indulge in a pie or two.
Hayden and Caroline Bridger, as they reflect on their recent 20th anniversary and thoughts for the future, say they don't have any major plans to extend their enterprise and their reason is heartening - see below.
So let's start at the beginning - 20-years ago....
Hayden never expected the business would become such an icon - he just wanted to bake.
"Yeah we never expected the enormity of it all but we always backed ourselves in to create a business we could survive off," Hayden said.
He added such longevity at the start was "never on the cards" but then this amazingly popular business emerged.
Hayden started the pie shop with his mum and dad, Lyn and Ray, and some 15-years-ago Caroline "married" into the business.
"I do all the behind-the-scenes things," Caroline said.
She takes care of all the administrative duties.
"Yes it's quite amazing to see how this business has turned out," Caroline said.
She dedicates the success to Hayden's drive and passion.
"All Hayden wants to do is feed people - it's never been all about a business for him," she said.
"Hayden does what he loves and that is what drives him and that's why the business is so successful - people can feel that love."
The early days
From a young age Hayden always cooked at home and fell into a chef's apprenticeship when he moved to Sydney from country Victoria and he "absolutely loved it".
He loved being a chef, despite it being a tough industry, and the baking side of things only came up when they set up Hayden's Pies.
"It was a big learning experience," he said about the early days.
Jobs for the community
At the start, they did many "seriously long hours" in the morning because they were self-taught and had many things they had to learn.
Now they have got better at what they do and have more staff to help make our delicious pies.
These days over 30 people work at Hayden's Pies.
"They are all permanent - they work all year round and that is a lot of rents and mortgages getting paid off in town," he said.
Caroline said they also employ junior staff who come in after school and on weekends.
"We take the junior roles very seriously and we put a lot of training into them. Our juniors go on to be our best workers," Caroline said.
Many of the junior staff stay on and take on management roles or become baristas.
Now what about those expansion plans .......
Hayden explains just why they won't be taking up an option to sell pies in supermarkets.
"We always just wanted to keep the business to just one shop," he said.
They get phone calls "just about every single day" from businesses in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane asking if they can sell pies made at the famous Ulladulla shop.
"The opportunities are there but I think you see it happen a lot in the baking industry where they [other bakers] branch out and they lose the passion and the love," Hayden said.
"We want to be here for another 20-years - one shop in Ulladulla."
Hayden said when others branch out it becomes about "the money and not about the food".
"We are just not attracted to it," Caroline said about the many opportunities they have had to expand their business.
She said enjoying family time with their children was a far better thing to do than expanding the business.
They could move from the premises in the future but will always stay in Ulladulla.
Hayden said the response he got from a recent post about marking 20-years of Hayden's Pies showed that the community had always stood by the business.
"I think it's so important to have local support and obviously your travellers as well," Hayden said.
"I just think we have been blessed with a bloody great town and I love it."
What is the next tasty treat we can expect?
As we drive past Hayden's Pies on the Princes Highway we all look at the board to see what is the next variety of pie we can try.
However, there is a balance as they want to keep people happy with what they have come to love and enjoy.
"We do change the menu but we tend to put pies on that have worked in the past," he said.
"We always stay progressive with what food trends happen," Hayden said, mentioning brisket and pulled-pork pies in the process.
Hayden likes creativity as he does not want to just do the "same old thing" over and over again.
However, he agreed that there was nothing wrong with the good old-fashioned meat pie.
"The traditional mince pie and the chunky steak pie will never ever leave," he said.
He added the steak and kidney pie may not be the biggest seller but it will always be there as well.
Hayden, when put on the spot, said he likes a lambs fry and bacon pie and Caroline said the butter chicken was delicious.
"I also love the steak bacon and cheese," she said.
The man and pies are known near and far
It appears Hayden's Pies has an international reputation.
"A customer came in and told us that they were in America and they were told about Hayden's Pies over there," Caroline said.
The family was up in the Hunter Valley a few weeks ago sitting down in a restaurant and one of their children put on a Hayden's Pie's hoodie.
"A lady walked past and pointed to my daughter's jumper and said 'Hayden's Pies I love that place'. My daughter goes 'that is my dad - that is him [the man behind Hayden's Pies] there'. The lady goes 'we have royalty in here'," Hayden said while laughing at the same time
A few famous faces like former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull have come in for a pie.
So let's get set to enjoy the next 20-years of Hayden's Pies........
