Garlo’s Pies, one of the country’s fastest growing pie producers, has moved into its new purpose-built facility to keep up with increasing demand from Sydney customers.

The family-run business celebrated the move with a public opening, attended by several prominent New South Wales personalities including Premier Barry O’Farrell and the NSW Commissioner for Small Business Jasmine King.

The facility in St Peters is five-times the size of the family’s original premises, to allow the business to better manage growing supply channels, including Coles and IGA retailers across the state. Orders for Coles alone have gone from 20 to 70 pallets per week.

The Premier said Garlo’s Pies – which was started by former NRL captain Sean Garlick, his brother Nathan and father Terry in 2001 – is proof small businesses still hold an important place in the Australian economy

At the event, the public was given the opportunity to walk through the facility, which can produce 2200 pies and 800 sausage rolls per hour.

According to Sean, preparation is also underway for the business gaining Australian Quarantine Inspection Service (AQIS) accreditation, so it can export pies overseas.

“The AQIS accreditation demands the highest level of standards for export. It’s one thing to have international destinations interested in importing pies, but it’s another thing entirely to satisfy an ‘approved arrangement’ with each individual importing country to get the licence,” Sean said.

“Supermarkets are constantly raising the bar in terms of the food safety systems required of their suppliers. We want to exceed those standards.”