The Great Aussie Pie Competition is held annually between Sydney and Melbourne, and attracts entries from all around Australia.

2008 marks the third year the Ararat Bakery has entered the competition, while the competition itself has been running for 17 years.

This year the Ararat Bakery entered 13 pies into the competition, with 12 of them coming home with awards.

The bakery won two gold medals, two silver medals and eight bronze.

The bakery won gold medals for its chunky beef and plain meat pies, and silver for its chicken parma and steak and bacon pies.

It also won bronze medals for the following: steak cheese and bacon, steak cheese and onion, steak and onion, steak and curry, potato, pizza, chicken and vegetables and chicken and asparagus.

The only pie entered by the Ararat Bakery not to pick up an award was its mushroom pie.

The Ararat Bakery employs three bakers and a school-based apprentice, as well as customer service staff.

Owner Paul Roberts said the awards are testament to the way the business is growing.

"Looking at our results from when we first entered the competition to now, it certainly shows that as a business, we have improved,'' Mr Roberts said.

"Winning awards means people are buying your products and pie sales tend to increase when people know about the awards.

"It really gives a good indicator of how the business is going, and at the moment we are really going from strength to strength.''

As well as producing a quality product for everyday purposes, the Ararat Bakery has also been contracted by several local football clubs, which Mr Roberts says serves as great publicity.

"Everytime we send pies out to a club they are sent in a bag with our logo on it, so it's great to get our label out to a few different places,'' Mr Roberts said.

The Ararat Bakery is also set to enter the Great Aussie Pastie Competition which is to be held in Melbourne in November.

After earning a bronze at the competition two years ago, a little tweak of the recipe has Mr Roberts hoping to see more gold soon.