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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