You can’t taste a freshly finished Hubig’s pie just yet, and until you can Andrew Ramsey knows some people will doubt they ever will again. But Ramsey knows the day is coming soon when the pie factory he’s building will be churning out the beloved little hand pies by the thousands, putting a beloved local brand back in circulation.
After nine years in limbo, Hubig’s Pies are almost back. Ramsey, the next-generation owner of the company, won’t lay out any precise timelines, because he’s learned just how much can bedevil the best-laid plans.
But as of today, he believes Hubig’s Pies will be back on store shelves in “a matter of months.”
“We are in the final stretch,” Ramsey said.
Work has been progressing at the new production facility and home base for Hubig’s in a warehouse just off Jefferson Highway, near the Huey P. Long Bridge.
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The company has brought back some of its former employees from the old days, including key production and operations personnel, and it is now advertising for more workers.
Throughout the process though, Ramsey has been reluctant to make promises about return dates. He knows how much Hubig’s means to many people. He does not want to set expectations when he can’t control all the myriad factors needed to fulfill them.
“As a company we lost everything except our goodwill, and we don’t want to burn through that,” he said.
A Hubig's truck makes deliveries around town in 1942
In business since 1922, Hubig’s Pies became more than just a familiar flavor in New Orleans. Equally at home as grab-and-go treats at the grocery, the hardware store and the gas station, a Hubig’s pie was an inexpensive product that became part of New Orleans' daily routine, and thus ingrained in the hearts of a city that loves its rituals.
A fire wiped out Hubig’s historic home in Faubourg Marigny back on July 27, 2012. Its owners pledged to return, but a split in the business partnership behind the company led to many years of delay for even the first steps of that process to begin.
The neighborhood dogs knew change was afoot for Matassa’s Market. After all, the old corner grocery was part of their daily rhythm, too.
Early last year, Ramsey was hopeful to have production back in the summer of 2020. Of course, 2020 had other ideas in store, and the pandemic has brought cascading delays.
But Ramsey also acknowledges his own approach has been a painstaking one. That’s because he’s not just out to relaunch a well-known brand, but also bring back an experience. He’s determined to recreate each facet that fans of Hubig’s Pies remember about them - the flavor, the feel, the look and even the feel of the crinkly paper wrappers.
“The next pie you have will resemble the last pie you had in every which way,” said Ramsey. “It’s going to be identical.”
Hubig's Pies were simple handpies that were beloved for generations before a fire destroyed the company's New Orleans factory in 2012. There are new plans underway to get the brand back in business.
Hubig’s was known for cooking from scratch, and now the company is being remade from scratch, too.
Ramsey has been foraging for vintage equipment from old plants and former suppliers, and refurbishing pieces that were salvaged from the Marigny facility.
He bought one machine, which cuts dough into oblong hand pie shapes, “from the grandson of the guy who sold the original to my grandfather,” Ramsey said.
The "feet" of a pie cutting machine at Hubig's Pies, the New Orleans hand pie maker working to reopen.
And the process continues, with icing mixers, pot washers, dough mixers, fryers, cooling spirals and wrapping machines.
Month after month, the many different pieces required to bring back these little hand pies have been building up.
Ramsey knows anticipation for Hubig’s lovers has been building too. That’s why he’s zeroed in on making sure the revived pies are up the standard people remember.
“We’re making progress,” Ramsey allowed.
The gumbo goes back at Dunbar’s Creole Cuisine. The urgent question now for the family here is how to carry it forward.
Before the fire, the plant produced an average of 25,000 pies a day. Ramsey said the new facility will have the capacity to exceed that number. They’ll be distributed to many different outlets, including grocery stores, gas stations and convenience stores around the region.
The lineup of flavors will be the same as before, with apple, lemon, peach, pineapple, chocolate and coconut prepared year round. Seasonal flavors will also return to the roster for limited runs, including blueberry, blackberry, cherry and sweet potato.
The Hubig's pie origin story goes back to the early 20th century, when Simon Hubig set up a bakery in Fort Worth, Texas. He expanded to build a regional chain that reached as far as Cincinnati.
All of the factories folded as the Depression and the rationing of World War II took their toll, with the lone exception of the New Orleans location. It kept churning out the hand pies from the same Dauphine Street building until the 2012 fire.
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March 22, 2021 at 08:15PM
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Return of Hubig’s Pies gets closer after year of pandemic delays: 'A matter of months' - NOLA.com
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