Media Release: 20 November 2025

Two plant bread bakers have taken out the top honours in this year’s competition.

James Berge of Quality Bakers in Napier has been named Young Bread Baker of the Year, while Mavae Finekifolau of George Weston Foods in Auckland has won the Bread Baker of the Year Award. Each will receive a research grant of up to $15,000 from the New Zealand Association of Bakers.

Entrants are required to demonstrate a wide range of skills. Competitors present on a set research topic, complete a 90-minute exam testing their theoretical knowledge of baking technology, and take part in a six-hour practical session in which they bake a selection of bread-based products. This year, contestants were also challenged with a bread-faults recognition test.

James says the competition offered a strong balance of familiar theory and more demanding hands-on work. A plant baker who joined Quality Bakers straight out of high school, he recalls: “I started out packing bread and worked in packing and dispatch for about three years. Two years after moving into the bakehouse, I began my apprenticeship. I’ve now been working in that department for seven years.” James hopes to use his research grant to explore European baking.

Mavae also found the practical component demanding, particularly the need to multi-task under time pressure. He says most of his apprenticeship training has taken place on the bun and roll line, but his seven years at a craft bakery before that provided a solid grounding in hand-moulding and mixing techniques that served him well in the competition.

The competition judges said the overall results were very close, with the competition standard from top to bottom tight this year. Judge Nathan Roberts, a past competitor, says having six strong contestants who all worked well together made for “a high quality, fun competition”.

The competition is open to nearly or newly qualified bread bakery apprentices. There are two classes of entry, an open class with no age limit, and a Young Baker class where candidates must be no older than 30 years of age.
The Bread Baker of the Year Competition is sponsored by the New Zealand Association of Bakers and is designed to promote excellence in people emerging from their training.

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For more information, please contact
Tania Watson – Judging Coordinator
New Zealand Association of Bakers
E: tania@bakingresearch.org.nz
M: 021 1659949

Media Release: 21 November 2024

Sadat Ali Rahimi of Coupland’s Christchurch has been named NZ Association of Bakers Bread Baker of the Year. Delmari Janse van Rensburg of New World Rolleston was named second in the competition and was awarded Young Bread Baker of the Year.

Both winners have won a grant of up to $15,000 to use for research on a bakery related subject. Delmari has also been nominated to represent New Zealand at the LA Judge Award in Australia in May 2025.

Ali has fond memories of his Grandfather’s bakery in Afghanistan and he wonders if that is why when he arrived in New Zealand in 2014 he took a role as a packer at Coupland’s Christchurch. Ali worked his way through the departments at Coupland’s and with hard work and support from the Coupland’s team he made his way to the bread plant. In 2023 he completed his New Zealand Certificate in Trade Baking (Plant Bread) Level 4. Ali enjoys working on all the different steps of the bread manufacturing process and enjoys the challenge of consistently making quality bakery products.

Delmari didn’t set out to be a baker, in fact she started a degree in Marketing but once she discovered baking, her passion for a career in the industry grew. Originally from South Africa, for the last four years, Delmari has worked in the bakery department at New World Rolleston. In July of this year, Delmari completed her New Zealand Certificate in Trade Baking Level 4. Within her role at New World, Delmari is involved in all stages of the baking process and enjoys the personal satisfaction of seeing the products she has created on the shelf.

The Competition is open to nearly or newly qualified bread bakery apprentices. This year is the first time that the competition has offered two classes of entry, a new open class with no age limit and the original Young Baker class where candidates must be no older than 30 years of age on 1 January 2024. Competitors were required to present a speciality bread and describe their product development process and how they would market their product. Entrants also completed a 90-minute theory of baking technology exam and a five-hour practical session.

Judging Co-ordinator Tania Watson says the “new concept of asking contestants to bring their own speciality breads to the competition worked well with some interesting concepts that were made well and tasted good too.”

Judge Grant Inns echoed the thoughts of the Judging Team by saying “the standard of the entrants was very high this year which is truly a credit to the amount of preparation that the contestants have completed.”

Judge Joe Jarkiewicz said, “he was pleased to see representation across all sectors of bakery industry – in store, craft and plant bakeries.” This has allowed contestants to share with their competitors the different processes they engage in within their bakeries.

Judge Nathan Roberts, a past competitor himself, was also impressed by the high standards this year and said, “that the addition of the open class to the Bread Baker of the Year Competition was a positive new dynamic.”

The Bread Baker of the Year Competition is sponsored by the New Zealand Association of Bakers and is designed to promote excellence in people emerging from their training.

ENDS ///
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For more information, please contact
Tania Watson – Judging Coordinator
New Zealand Association of Bakers
E: tania@bakingresearch.org.nz
M: 021 1659949

Media Release: 16 November 2023

A Dunedin plant bread baker has taken out the 2023 Young Bread Baker of the Year Award. Tyrone Harvey of Quality Bakers Dunedin receives a research grant of up to $15,000 from the New Zealand Association of Bakers.

Tyrone competed over two days carrying out demanding theoretical and practical testing. While he was surprised by his win, he says he received a lot of encouragement from colleagues to enter. “Putting in the effort to prepare was worth it. I’m not sure what response I’ll get when I arrive back to work. Maybe they’ll get me to shout a BBQ.” Being reserved and preferring to be out of the limelight, Tyrone says the most challenging part of the competition for him was talking to the judges about the product he made.

Judges Joe Jarkiewicz, Grant Inns, Nathan Roberts, and Tania Watson said Tyrone was the clear winner who stood out from the rest because he did well in all facets of the competition. Judging Co-ordinator Tania Watson says Tyrone stepped out of his comfort zone to participate, was a good team player, and was conscious of health and safety in the bakery. “He was first to finish, he was organised, and he helped clean up too,” says Tania.

Tyrone has been baking since 2013. After five years at Countdown in Auckland and a short stint at New World, he joined Quality Bakers Auckland in 2019, then moved to Quality Bakers in Dunedin two months ago, where he is Chief Baker. He completed his Level 4 Plant Baking qualification this year. His focus at work is on producing small goods but he says what he really enjoys is the science behind baking, as knowing how everything works makes it easy to solve problems if they arise.

The competition requires entrants to demonstrate their ability in three areas: a presentation on a given research topic, a 90-minute exam which tests their theoretical knowledge of baking technology, and a five-hour practical session in which they bake a variety of bread-based products.

Judging Co-ordinator Tania Watson says the aim of the competition is to find bakers with potential whose talents can be nurtured through mentoring and development opportunities. “It’s always good to have both plant and craft bakeries represented as they bring different strengths to the competition. We were pleased to have bakers from diverse backgrounds and both the North and South Islands.”

Judge Grant Inns says he wanted to make sure each entrant walked away from the competition feeling confident and proud. Learning and growing is a big part of it,” he said.
Judge Joe Jarkiewicz says he is always keen to see young people compete because of the extra knowledge they gain.

Judge Nathan Roberts, a past competitor himself, says the competition is a huge stepping stone and an opportunity for young bakers to progress their career. “You learn things at the competition that you wouldn’t learn in your everyday job.”

The Young Bread Baker of the Year Competition is sponsored by the New Zealand Association of Bakers and is designed to promote excellence in people emerging from their training.

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For more information, please contact
Tania Watson – Judging Coordinator
New Zealand Association of Bakers
E: tania@bakingresearch.org.nz
M: 021 1659949