Maketū Pies to close its factory after Montana Group fails to find a buyer

Lizzi Pearson, Montana Group's chief executive, said there had been strong interest in the brand, but buyers could not manage the short handover or fit the extra production into their own plants, 1News reported. The closure is the owner's own decision. No receiver or liquidator has been reported as appointed.

All 21 jobs are full-time roles. Pearson told Hospitality Business that helping the factory team into new work was the priority, and that managers had been talking to other Bay of Plenty employers about openings. Montana first put the brand up for sale in late September, when it proposed closing the factory at the end of the lease, 1News reported at the time.

Stockists lose a supplier. Under Montana, the number of pie warmers carrying the brand rose from under 100 to over 600, and it reached more than 200 supermarkets, general manager Craig Williams had told the Rotorua Daily Post, as reported by SunLive. None of the reports say whether the brand name or recipes will be sold on.

It is the brand's third setback in about seven years. A local family started the business in 1982. Receivers were in charge when Te Arawa Management Ltd took it over in 2019. After more losses it was placed in a voluntary solvent liquidation in 2024, and Montana bought it that December. Pearson said the ageing factory would need rebuilding from scratch before output could expand.