Maketū Pies up for sale, factory may close

About 21 full-time jobs are potentially affected, according to a company spokesperson, who corrected an earlier figure of 28.

The company says it is at the start of consultation and that no final decisions can be made until that process is finished.

The story matters because it sets a turnaround claim against a closure proposal. The owner says the business has been fixed and is ready to grow. The people who make the pies now face an uncertain few months.

The record

Montana Group bought the Kiwi pie brand in December 2024. The company says production has more than doubled since then.

It also gives figures on reach. By the time Montana bought it, that had fallen below 100. General manager Craig Williams says the pies are now in more than 600 pie warmers and more than 200 supermarkets.

The company says it has revived products including the Smoked Fish Pie and Mussel Pie, and refreshed the branding and packaging. Williams says customers told the company they missed what the brand used to be, so it set out to bring back the quality it was known for.

The factory was built in 1982 and extended several times since. Chief executive Lizzi Pearson says it would realistically need a full rebuild to handle more production and product storage, and that without one the brand has reached capacity at the site. The lease expires in December.

Open questions

The company describes a business that has been turned around and is in a strong position, yet it is selling and proposing to close the factory. Its explanation is that the lease end made this the right time to take stock. That raises a fair question about the sequence: what options were weighed for the site before the sale and closure proposal, such as a lease extension or a rebuild? The company has said a rebuild would be needed for further growth, but has not said whether that was considered by Montana itself.

There is also a question about timing. The lease ends in December, and consultation has only just begun. A sale would need to be found, and any buyer would decide where production happens. How those three things fit together in a few months is something staff and the Maketū community will want answered.

The proposal is also to close the site, while the company says a buyer could keep production there. Those two statements sit side by side, and only one can turn out to be true.

The other side

Montana's case is that this is a success story rather than a retreat. The company says it now needs an owner that can take Maketū Pies further, and that this owner may be better placed than Montana to fund the growth the factory can no longer support.

The spokesperson says the lease ending made it the right time to think about next steps. The company also stresses that the consultation is real and that no decision has been made. On the future of the Maketū site, it says a new owner could keep production there, and that this choice will rest with that owner.

Williams says he is confident a buyer can keep growing the brand.

What happens next

Consultation with staff is under way, and the company says decisions will follow that process. Workers affected by the proposal can put their views to the company during it.

Montana says it will look for a buyer capable of continuing the brand's growth. Whether production stays in Maketū will depend on who that is and what they choose, and on what happens to the lease before December.

Watch for three things: whether a buyer comes forward before the lease ends, whether any buyer commits to the Maketū site, and what the final decision on the 21 roles turns out to be.