It’s fair to say this pie has been about 50 years in the making when you consider baker John Reminis first set foot in a bakery that many years ago.

He and his team are no strangers to industry accolades for their baked goods, however the title of being named the creator of Australia’s Best Plain Pie has until now eluded them.

“We have won many gold medal certificates for pies which placed us in the top 3 per cent, but never won actual first prize,” Mr Reminis said yesterday in a sleep deprived state.

Mr Reminis received the gold trophy Tuesday afternoon at the Baking Association of Australia Trade Fair in Sydney.

“I was half way home when it sunk in. I thought to myself, ‘How good is this?’

“It was a pretty long day, though – I’d been up since 8pm the night before.”

His pies have a good reputation here and further afield and behind the scenes Mr Reminis has a reputation for tweaking the recipe.

“The boys are always asking me why am I always adjusting the recipe?

“It’s about trying things to get it just right.

“This pie is the same pie recipe that goes to all the shows but you normally put a small batch on and play with it, to get it just right.

“We were so busy this year we weren’t even going enter so we just took this batch off the production line.

“To win plain pie is so special – it’s not something that is easily earned.

“I try pies around the countryside when I’m travelling and we’ve got people coming from all over buying our pies on their way through the area.

“Our shop’s going okay, I think we do a pretty good job, our pies are good, but actually I think our bread is better than our pies,” he said.

Mr Reminis thanked his family and staff for their hard work and support and thanked his butcher Les Beresford.

“We’ve got great local support, people are always looking for a nice pie, and I really think this is a nice pie.”

Mr Reminis’ son John Jr is a second-year apprentice in the bakery who this week was involved in a TAFE cook-off.

John Jr is learning the art of baking more exotic products.

“He’s doing things I’ve wanted to start in the bakery, like traditional sourdough.

“He loves it, he’s a top tradesman, he will be a better baker than I ever was,” Mr Reminis said.