Today [June 9] an icon celebrates a tasty anniversary.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Hayden Bridger, on social media, announced that 20-years ago Hayden's Pie opened and the rest, as they say, is history.
Staff at Australian Community Media are always up for a chat about pies and so we will be catching up with team from Hayden's Pies to see what their plans, hopes and pie creations are for the next 20 years.
No - we are not after free pies but feel a successful business needs to be celebrated.
In the meantime, cast your eye over this tasty treat from last year............
Butter chicken pies, lamb korma pies, chunky steak, roast chicken, honey pumpkin, the list goes on - but how did a Shoalhaven family create one of the most popular pie shops on the South Coast?
Back in 2003, Hayden Bridger, his parents and family decided to put Hayden's restaurant experience to use and create the Ulladulla pie shop, "Hayden's Pies".
After running for 19 years with his wife, Hayden has grown the shop to such popularity in the local community and surrounds, now selling an average of 700 pies per day.
Mr Bridger said he had always been in the hospitality industry but wasn't sure what to do career wise, which is where his parents gave him the idea.
"Mum and dad said we should go into business, so we set up the pie shop together," he said.
Two years before starting 'Hayden's Pies,' Mr Bridger went on a trip around Australia, learning about how pies are made around the country.
"The Aussie thing to do is to go have you had the pie here? Have you had the pie there? People love their pies in Australia and they talk about it a lot," he said.
"There's a lot of bakeries trying to do everything out there, so we just wanted to be known for our pies and that's what we did."
It was this trip around the nation learning about Australia's pies that initially gave Mr Bridger the idea to make more extravagant flavours.
While traditional bakeries may sell chunky steak, mushroom, mince and other more conventional pies, Mr Bridger knew he wanted to change the game, creating honey pumpkin, lamb korma, goat cheese, tandoori goat and the infamous, butter chicken pie.
At the start of the business, there were no intentions for it to become as popular as it did, with Mr Bridger stating he is still shocked at how many people will line up for the pies.
"We have 30 people working for us now, so it's become a bit of a place where it's not just a small little business, but a lot of families rely on Hayden's Pies to pay their rent or their mortgages," he said.
"It blows me away sometimes, I'll be driving past on a day off and the carpark is chock-a-block, line out the door and I think... that's my name out the front there!"
READ MORE:
While the business mainly focuses on pies, Hayden has since started making deserts, sandwiches and other goods, with every single item made at the shop being homemade.
The most popular desert item on the menu is the Portuguese Tart according to Mr Bridger, whose store will sell out of the good every single day.
"They're easy to make and they sell out so fast," he said.
"They're just so good."
Mr Bridger brought techniques and skills he had learnt in the restaurant industry into his pies and deserts, incorporating butter into his puff pastry.
This is not something that bakers would usually do, however Hayden said the flavour speaks for itself.
"People don't usually use butter in puff pastry and the weather can definitely make it harder to cook with," he said.
"In Summer, it becomes hard to use because of the heat and also on humid days.
"A few people in the industry will look at me and ask why I use butter, but I mean, the results speak for themselves and the flavour is so good."
But what does the king of pies consider to be the best pie on the menu? This is something Hayden is still yet to properly determine.
"Trying to pick your favourite pie is like trying to pick your favourite child," he said.
"There are pies that when they come on the menu, I just have to come in on a day off and get one, like the steak lamb fry and bacon."
In terms of popularity however, Mr Bridger said the most popular pie at the store is their famous butter chicken pie.
"That pie has a cult following," he said.
"The response we have and the smile it puts on people's faces is amazing - people talk about it so much."
With 19 years [now 20] notched in Hayden's belt, he stressed to the community the store is not going anywhere.
Having received multiple calls from people in Melbourne in Sydney to franchise, the answer had always been the same from Mr Bridger, "No."
"In 10 years, this will still be the classic family owned Hayden's Pies in Ulladulla," he said.
"We're not going anywhere."