By Janine Hill

A Nambour small business has set bakeries throughout Australia on notice with its result in a national contest.

The Gourmet Storr in Currie Street placed fifth in the Great Aussie Pie Competition with its plain sausage roll, which was awarded a silver medal in a three-tier, bronze-silver-gold, recognition scheme.

Proprietor Chris Storr, who has put in long hours since opening the store in Currie Street, was very happy with the result.

“It’s only our first year in the competition. We’ll find ways again to make some improvements and grow our product and get a placing next year,” he said.

Chris said making a good sausage roll started with using good quality ingredients.

“We make our own pastry. We don’t buy it in. It’s all made here,” he said.

“A lot of sausage rolls are made with a lot of breadcrumbs. We do have breadcrumbs but we don’t load them with breadcrumbs.

“Most of ours is meat. It’s meat that has the priority. And then you have onions, carrot, and a few spices to give it that extra flavour.”

The bakery’s entry was made on site and then couriered to Sydney for the contest, where products were judged both cold and hot. The Gourmet Storr has only been open as a retail bakery for about eight months.

Chris has been a baker for 24 years. He was head baker at the Hyatt Regency Coolum in the resort’s hey-day.

About three years ago, he went out on his own, baking wholesale goods in a hired commercial kitchen.

The business grew to the point that he needed to find a more permanent arrangement, hence the move to Nambour and an unplanned switch from wholesale to retail. “People kept asking us when we were going to open so we put out some trestle tables with what we had on a Saturday,” he said. “Then people kept asking when we were going to open every day.”

Chris employs a baker, a senior staffer, and several juniors. The Gourmet Storr was open seven days a week but with bakers hard to find, Chris has pulled back to six days a week to cope with the workload.