Sophie Elsworth
May 05, 2013
National Features
FORMER NRL star Sean Garlick reckons he knows the secret to a good Aussie pie.
“It’s all about being thin on pastry and big on meat, essentially,” he says.
“We don’t like the pies that have the thick concrete crust, they’re a very sturdy pie but we like to keep our pastry as thin as possible and by doing this you’re keeping your fat down.”
Garlick kickstarted his pie-making business, Garlo’s Pies, with younger brother Nathan in 2003, when the pair opened their first shop at Marouba in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
Nathan had completed a baker’s apprenticeship before quitting the industry, but after some convincing, decided to return and the pair opened up their own pie-making store.
Since then, their business has grown dramatically and they now pump out about 12,000 pies a day, Garlick says.
This includes supplying their products to various supermarkets in NSW and southeast Queensland and hundreds of cafes, hotels, lunch trucks and convenience stores.
They are also looking to sell their products overseas.
Garlo’s Pies has more than 50 staff and Garlick, who is the managing director, says he used to make the pies himself but now leaves that part to his employees.
“I haven’t made a pie for a while. In the early days, we made them all by hand,” he says. “Before we got a pie machine, we made about 2500 a day by hand and it took about eight people around the clock to do it.”
Last month, the business moved into a new manufacturing facility to ensure they can keep up with the demand for their product.
Garlick says there’s one big hurdle the pie industry faces to ensure it survives.
“I think the challenge facing all pie-makers these days is about appealing to those that would otherwise think pies are not for them because they are too unhealthy,” he says
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