Napier goes pie mad for Humble Pie

One man has made a checklist. Heather came all the way from Hāwera. Others are attempting all 24 pies before August is out.

It’s fair to say Napier’s Humble Pie has taken on a life of its own.

And the timing couldn’t be better. Pies are having a moment across New Zealand, with viral pie reviews and challenges clocking up huge audiences online, while Kiwis reportedly eat around 66 million pies every year. 

Napier, it seems, is very much on trend.

Two weeks into the month-long hospitality collaboration, customers aren’t just trying the pies – they’re turning it into a personal challenge.

Across Napier CBD and Ahuriri, participating venues are reporting new faces through the door, pies selling out and, in some cases, demand well beyond what they anticipated.

At BAKED by Central Fire Station Bistro, the team has invested in more pie tins and ramped up production to meet demand, with plans to make up to 150 pies a day.

Bellatino’s has been selling out most days, with Haylee Wallace saying customers are coming through the door specifically for their Humble Pie.

“We’ve definitely noticed some new faces, with customers saying they’ve specifically come in to try our pie. We’ve even had quite a few people say they’re attempting to try them all.”

Rogue Hop is seeing a similar pattern. Its Chicken Afritada Pie has been selling out daily, and the venue estimates around half of its Humble Pie customers are new faces coming specifically to try it or grab one to take away.

The appetite continued at last Friday’s Indy Night, when people rugged up and braved a chilly Hawke’s Bay evening for a special Humble Pie pop-up in Market Street, Napier.

And for Common Deli, all that pie-hopping is helping new customers discover the café. Natalie Siefe says Humble Pie came at an ideal time for the new business.

“We are tucked away and very new to Napier, so this event came at a perfect time for us. We’ve had a lot of new faces through our doors and new people are discovering us daily.

“Our house-made pastry has been a massive hit, and seeing people’s reactions to our house-made brown sauce has been a real treat.”

Napier City Business Inc General Manager Pip Thompson says the level of enthusiasm has been a welcome surprise.

“We knew Napier loved a good pie, but we didn’t anticipate people making checklists and road trips out of it!

“The whole idea was to get people out discovering different venues and trying something new, and they’ve certainly taken that challenge and run with it.”

With half of August still to go, there’s plenty of time to join the pie pilgrimage, or make a decent dent in the list.

And there’s one more slice to come.

Humble Pie will wrap up on Monday, 31 August with a Wrap-Up Pie Party at Central Fire Station Bistro, bringing participating venues and pie lovers together for one final celebration.

The event will be ticketed, with details and invitations coming soon and if the response to Humble Pie so far is anything to go by, pie lovers will want to be quick.

The full Pie Guide is available at napiercbd.co.nz/humble-pie-napier.