Four'n Twenty is an Australian pastry brand, now distributed internationally, with products including meat pies and sausage rolls. It is owned by parent company Patties Foods.
 | |
 A Four'n Twenty Pie being eaten during an AFL match | |
| Product type | Meat pies Sausage rolls |
|---|---|
| Owner | Patties Foods |
| Country | Australia |
| Introduced | 1947 |
| Markets | Australia New Zealand United States Japan |
| Previous owners | Peters Ice Cream Simplot |
| Tagline | The great Australian taste |
| Website | fourntwenty |
The classic Four'n Twenty pie is filled with mutton and beef (a minimum of 25%, per Food Standards Australia New Zealand regulations), mostly shoulder meat, in a spiced gravy with carrot and onion.[1] The crust is a flour and margarine shortcrust pastry, with the upper crust additionally rolled and folded to make it slightly flaky.[1] Other fillings include chicken and vegetable, pulled pork, and grass-fed Angus beef.
Australians have the highest per-capita meat pie consumption in the world, and Four'n Twenty pies are considered iconic, particularly in the context of football matches.[2] They are often served with tomato sauce.[3]
Etymology and logos
editThe brand's name is a reference to the traditional English nursery rhyme Sing a Song of Sixpence, which includes the lyric "Four and twenty blackbirds / Baked in a pie".[4] Some early logos alluded to this, with 24 blackbirds escaping from a pie and taking flight, although the current logo features only text.[citation needed]
History
editThe Four'n Twenty pie was created in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia by Leslie Thompson McClure in 1947.[5] Initially called the Dad & Dave Pie after the name of his cafe, McClure renamed the pie using the nursery rhyme suggestion from an employee.[4] At that time, production was around 50 pies per day.[1]
McClure took a sampling of his pies to the Royal Melbourne Agricultural Show, where they proved very popular. Increasing demand for the pie caused McClure to open a bakery in a pavilion of the showgrounds in 1949, then a factory in nearby Union Road, Ascot Vale in 1953,[5] and eventually a larger factory in Kensington.[2]
In 1960, McClure sold his stake in Four'n Twenty to the Victorian arm of Peters Ice Cream.[5] Peters' subsequent owner, Pacific Dunlop, sold the brand to Simplot in 1995,[6] and Simplot in turn sold Four'n Twenty and several other bakery brands to Patties Foods in 2003.[2] Patties expanded their Bairnsdale manufacturing facility and consolidated Four'n Twenty production into it, closing the Kensington plant.[2] The new plant can produce 21,000 pies per hour, 24 hours per day.[1]
International presence
edit
In 2006, the brand announced that the Four'n Twenty pie would be sold on the American market.[7]
On 21 April 2019, Four'n Twenty launched its brand of meat pies in Japan, with a Four’n Twenty Day celebration at the World Beer Museum in Tokyo.[8]
Along with Milo, Weet-Bix and Vegemite, Four’n Twenty pies are an official provision to the 2024 Australian Olympic Team.[9]
Varieties
editIn 2017, to celebrate Four'n Twenty's 70th anniversary, the brand launched the Four'n Twenty Cheese and Vegemite Pie.[10]
Later in 2017, Four'n Twenty launched the Topper, a crispy breaded pocket with lasagna, macaroni and cheese, or chicken cordon bleu fillings.[11]
In 2020, Four'n Twenty introduced a vegan-friendly meat-free pie to the market, said to have the same "taste, texture and flavour" as the original.
References
edit- ^ a b c d Cornish, Richard (28 April 2009). "Behind the scenes at Aussie food factories". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
- ^ a b c d "Bye-bye American pie". The Age. 21 July 2003. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
- ^ Talbot, Christopher (22 July 2016). "The history of the great Australian meat pie at the footy". Herald Sun. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
- ^ a b Fagan, Josh (25 March 2012). "How a rhyme raised a humble pie". Bendigo Advertiser. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
- ^ a b c Ritchie, John (2000). "McClure, Leslie Thompson (Les) (1908–1966)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
- ^ Gardiner, Ashley (12 July 2003). "Great Aussie bite bites back". Herald Sun. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
- ^ "Great Aussie bite to become American pie". The Age. 11 September 2006. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
- ^ Victoria, Global (23 April 2019). "Serving up Four'N Twenty pies in Japan". global.vic.gov.au. Archived from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
- ^ Snape, Jack (5 June 2024). "'A taste of home': Australia's Olympians to be provided with Weet-Bix and Vegemite at Paris Games". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
- ^ Hogan, Andrea (17 July 2017). "Four'N Twenty now selling Cheese and Vegemite pie". Australian Food News. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
- ^ Elmas, Matthew (18 September 2017). "Four'n Twenty launches hand-held lasagne". Food and Beverage Industry news. Retrieved 19 September 2017.