Georgie Pie was the blueprint for New Zealand fast food in the '80s and '90s, offering a Kiwi touch in an industry dominated by the likes of McDonalds and KFC.
While Kiwis had been eating meat pies for generations, the specific combination of mince and cheese was not sold by any major commercial brand until Georgie Pie.
Created under Progressive Enterprises, it offered a Kiwi alternative to American chains like McDonald's, who had released their popular quarter pounder with cheese and cheeseburgers.
Manager Brian Popham was tasked with creating the brand that elevated the classic pie to a new level - and exceeded everybody's expectations in doing so.
He told 1News that the Georgie Pie name was born during a trip to the US, where he took inspiration from another pie manufacturer.
"I'd gone up to Fort Wayne in Indiana to look at some pie making plant. And they pointed me to a pie manufacturer in Georgia, and this company was making large fruit pies. And their name was Georgia Pie," Popham revealed.
"So we stole it. and instead of Georgia pie we called it Georgie Pie."
Popham was responsible for the invention of the staple mince and cheese pie, an innovation that took the NZ food scene by storm.
"We developed a mince and cheese pie, which had natural cheese flavour in the filling, but also had a cheese slice on top inside the pastry," Popham explained.
"And I know many people would say they had a mince and cheese pie, but there was nothing like that. We were the first to develop a pie like that."
Mince and cheese pies took off, and soon enough Georgie Pie was recording sales like never before.
The Georgie Pie inventor said that in 1994 - when the population was around 3.65 million - the company was selling a million pies a week. (Source: 1News)
"In 1994 we were selling a million pies a week," Popham said.
Unfortunately, the success did not last, and as global giants grew, the Kiwi pie business shrunk.
Eventually, 17 of the 32 Georgie Pie branches were sold to McDonalds, with the remaining outlets left to close in the following years.
Despite the unlucky ending, Georgie Pie was still remembered fondly by many Kiwis, with Popham reflecting on the good times as if they were yesterday.
"It wasn't just the pie. It was the physical environment. It was the marketing. It was the birthday parties. It was the kids' club.
"It showed that we were formidable competitors in the New Zealand market. We weren't just fly-by-nighters.
"Unfortunately, it had to come to an end."
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