The American Pie Council (APC) proudly announced that 20 commercial bakers walked away with top honors in 130 categories at the 16th Annual APC/Crisco National Pie Championships, held April 23-25 at the Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate.

Scot Adam and Tony Stumbaugh of Beckmann’s Bakery accept the award for pumpkin pie.	Melissa Fischer and Megan Moran of Kroger Co., and Jeff Beyer of Legendary Baking, a div. of American Blue Ribbon Holdings, celebrate their blue ribbons with Linda Hoskins, director of APC (2nd from left).
Pie lovers from across the country attended the 2010 Great American Pie Festival in Celebration, Fla., sponsored by Crisco.	Pies coded for judging are displayed en masse following the commercial judging.>

Of 907 total pie entries in commercial, professional, amateur and junior chef categories, nearly half were entered in the commercial division. The categories were based on wholesale cost, size of pie and flavor, which included apple, blueberry, fruit/berry, open cream, citrus, open, nut, chocolate and raisin, sponsored by the California Raisin Marketing Board. Independent bakers with $1 million or less in annual pie sales were placed in their own category within the commercial bakers' competition.

Not only do winners in each category take home a prestigious title, but winning an award at the National Pie Championships has proven benefits toward increasing market share.

Bakers Square Restaurants once again dominated the commercial division with 38 wins, up from 34 last year. Other winners include Bonert's Slice of Pie (20), J. Horner (11), Rocky Mountain (8), Cyrus O'Leary's Pies (7), Norske Nook (7), Michele's Pies (7), Harlan Bakeries (4), Lisa's Pie Shop (4), Target (3), Jessie Lord Bakery (2), Kroger (2), Shari's Restaurant (2), Sweetie-Licious Bakery Café (2), Achatz Handmade Pie Co. (1), Beckmann's Bakery (1), Boston Market (1), Publix Super Markets Inc. (1), Wayne's Family Restaurant (1) and Winn Dixie (1). A complete list of winners is available at www.piecouncil.org.