Oz still a baking wizard after 42 years

Oz still a baking wizard after 42 years

This series of profiles on local businesses is supported by Land Matters and Pritchard Civil.

Through tough times and good, Oz’s Bakery has been a constant in Ōtaki for the past 42 years.

Baker Osmond Pidduck set up shop in the mid-1980s after learning the bakery trade at the big hot bread shop on the highway at Paraparaumu.

As a young boy his father would bring him up to Ōtaki and he would stay with his Uncle Mick and Auntie Ra Rikihana, who lived at “Rikiville” on Mill Road.  He has always loved being in Ōtaki.

 Recognising the value of highway traffic, Oz took on the shop at 200 Main Highway Ōtaki, which was previously the Lawson’s jewellery store.

The routine of starting work at 3am seven days a week, and being the baker for almost everything sold at Oz’s, has never changed. It’s probably the reason for the bakery’s longevity.

“Oz has always done just about all the baking,” says wife and business partner Robyn Pullen. “It’s probably why the business has survived all these years. Doing everything himself means he can keep prices down and still provide the favourite foods that people have loved for years.”

Little has changed in Oz’s cabinets since he sold his first sausage roll in 1983. The bakery is still renowned for its freshly baked steak-and-cheese pies, filled rolls and sandwiches, cream donuts, custard squares, cakes and breads.

Robyn sees them as the kinds of food that people always enjoy, no matter the trends in modern cooking.

“People still want to get a quick take-away pie or cake from the cabinet without having to pay a fortune for it.”

Recognising that not everyone is the same, however, 15 years ago Oz and Robyn established Dice right next door to Oz’s in Ōtaki’s highway shopping precinct. Much of the baking still comes from the hands of Oz (though other staff do a lot of the baking for Dice).

Dice has a modern decor and branding, and has more “up-market” offerings. Countering the traditional fare of Oz’s Bakery, Dice has a slightly different clientele, offering paninis, bagels, and toasted wraps, summer salads, real fruit ice-creams, smoothies and Emporio coffee.

Oz’s is probably Ōtaki’s longest-running retail business at the highway shops.

Throughout the past 42 years, Robyn and Oz have seen some remarkable changes, including the arrival of outlet shops, which transformed the sleepy “railway” area into a shopping metropolis.

And of course the changes that came with the expressway – less traffic and a more relaxed shopping environment.

“We’ve been through some tough times, as all businesses do,” Robyn says. “But we’ve always believed in  Ōtaki. That’s probably whey we’ve been here so long!”

And the last word from Oz: “Thank you to the Ōtaki community for supporting the bakery over the years.”

Oz’s Bakery and Dice, 200 Main Highway, Ōtaki. 06 364-5472