Wiganer’s ‘porkless pie’ misses out at British Pie Awards due to admin error

Judges from the Melton Mowbray headquarters of the competition came together to assess over 900 entrants and despite John Roper impressing them with his plant-based treat, Roper was omitted from the award winner’s list and press releases that followed.

But the one-man-show behind Old Trafford-based business The Vegan Picnic Basket is determined to find the positives in the debacle.

John said: “I suppose it gives me a more interesting story arc to talk about.

“I don’t want to get too disheartened by it, I still get to use the Bronze Award accreditation on my market stalls and when I’m contacting wholesalers – I don’t doubt that having that badge will drive business my way.”

Having entered his pie with high hopes, John’s first reaction to not winning an award or being invited to the winners’ ceremony was one of frustration.

He said: “Once they'd had the award ceremony, they sent out all of the results, and so unfortunately my name wasn't on there which was quite disappointing.

“I did think I'd put in quite a good entry, but I suppose who doesn't rate the food that they're making?”

But on closer inspection of the scoring system, he realised that he had qualified for a bronze award, immediately getting in contact with the team at the British Pie Awards, who said they would look into it.

They soon realised their error – but the winners lists and press releases had already been sent out.

He said: “They did get back in contact and they've been really apologetic about it all.

"They had close to 1,000 pies to judge and I can understand how it would get missed – it was just really unfortunate.”

From a business perspective, this was a huge missed publicity opportunity for his fledgling operation.

John took to Instagram to share with followers the unlikely story of how it all happened.

Having left a career in corporate finance during the pandemic, John is now in his first full year as full-time owner, baker and distributor – among other titles that come with running an entire business by yourself.

A vegan of five years, he hopes to use the results from the awards to continue growing the Vegan Picnic Basket’s reputation.

He said: “I bear no grudge against them and I’ll definitely be entering next year – and aiming for gold!

“I want to be more regular on the markets around Manchester and in the spring and summer this year, I’m going to trial actual vegan picnic baskets for home delivery or collection.“I think a good endorsement of it is that my dad will often get me to send him twenty or so pies back so he can give them to his friends, and if I can win over the opinion of 70-year old born-and-bred Wiganers who aren’t vegan then there’s something for everyone in the things that I sell.”

More information about The Vegan Picnic Basket can be found here