We did! Mintel have reported that sales of ‘pastry- based savouries’ are rising by 5% a year, with the beef pie outselling all the rest.

They think this may be down to the rise of the gastropub, featuring pies on the menu and repositioning them as a viable meal rather than a snack. The manufacturers suggest that this is due to an increased demand for regional foods, with consumers “returning to traditional British foods such as pork pies and looking for authentic regional products with a long heritage.”

On the other hand, this is quite strongly at odds with a move towards healthier food, and might be more a case of people turning to traditional comfort foods during the stresses of the recession, turning the ;pastry-based savoury snack’ into the ideal ‘credit crunch’!. As this report suggests, pie manufacturers might need to come up with a strategy based on the ‘healthy version’ if they are going to maintain this growth in the market.