United Petroleum has swooped in to rescue embattled purveyor of fine pasty goods, Pie Face, but the purchase price remains a mystery pack.
A spokesperson for United said there was intent to sell Pie Face products in its nearly 400-strong network of service stations, however it was “too early to provide any details” according to news.com.au.
United Petroleum marketing manager Andrew English said that Pie Face would continue to run as a standalone business.
“We are diversifying our network and it will give us an improved offering for our (service station) customers but it will also be its own business,” he told AAP.
“We are looking at investing in Pie Face and that will involve looking at new lines.”
Pie Face has opened three new locations this year, showing the company has been taking steps to get back on the road to recovery.
Pie Face went into administration in 2014, a sign that the market for one of Australia’s most distinct national snacks was on the waver; however a report from Roy Morgan (released Feb 2017) showed that pie consumption in Australia had risen from 8.1 million consumers in 2013 to almost 9.4 million since, representing 47.5% of the Australian population.
Country South Australia proved the nation’s biggest pie eating region by a country mile, at 61.6% of the population, with WA Country a long way down in second place with 53.4%, and a gradual curve down across the rest of the country.
Reflective of its heavy multicultural influence, Sydney was the least interested in pies, with 43.2% of the population admitting to being consumers.