The treat that sells every 30 seconds at this iconic Victorian bakery

Ferguson Plarre’s Bakehouse sells 153,000 baked goods every week across Victoria, but there’s one item that really does the heavy lifting numbers-wise: the classic sausage roll.

Over 25,500 are sold by the bakery chain a week, an average of one roughly every 30 seconds, making it the biggest seller by far. Next is the iconic ‘Tiddly Oggie’ pastie at over 8,800 sold, then the beef pies at 8,300 – and approximately 6,000 party pies.

When it comes to sweet treats, the vanilla slice is the biggest seller, with over 4,200 sold each week, followed by traditional custard tarts and chocolate éclairs.

In fact, the bakery chain is credited with introducing Australia to the iconic French baked good when Otto Plarre opened the first location in Moonee Ponds, Melbourne in 1901.

“They are still very popular. We make them more efficiently than in the early days,” Ralph Plarre tells nine.com.au.

Originally, every step of the baking, filling and decorating process was done by hand.

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“It’s still labour-intensive,” he stressed.

“We employ hundreds of people in the bakery and in distribution, and we use all Aussie ingredients.

“We use thousands of tonnes of Aussie beef, flour, butter, cream, and cream ... we get chocolate in, about four or five tonne in tankers.”

Ferguson Plarre’s Bakehouse, which is celebrating 125 years of operation, now operates 86 locations across the state of Victoria. Four generations of the Plarre family work there, including grandparents, parents, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

Ralph, the grandson of Otto Plarre and a third-generation baker, ran the business for more than 45 years before handing over operations to his children Mike and Steve.

During his many years running the business, Ralph has seen many trends come and go.

“We saw the pavlova trend in the 1970s when everyone had to have a pavlova when they went to a party. Then the mud cakes came in.”

He also recalled the 1980s, when demand for low-fat low-sugar baked goods surged – and the customers who were surprised they didn’t taste great.

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These days, the focus is on indulgent, delicious, savoury and sweet treats, including donuts, which surged in popularity after Krispy Kreme arrived in Australia.

Not all products remain on the roster. Cream puffs came and went, as did Ralph’s experiment with the legendary Lindy’s Cheesecake, a cake he learned in the US which is made with rich cream, citrus zest and a biscuit-dough crust.

“I was so disappointed that I didn’t really think that through,” he said.

The bakery’s ‘Tiddly Oggie’ pastie has spanned the test of time, thanks in part to its constantly-changing fillings. Over the years these have included every kind of protein, including Ralph’s mother-in-law’s tuna casserole.

Lamingtons are another winner, coming in original, jam-filled and cream-filled varieties.

This year, as the business celebrates 125 years of operation, their core principles remain the same.

“It’s still very much a family business, and we are very proud of the fact our ingredients, our people and our customer values are the same as when Otto started it. All those standards still apply,” Ralph said.

“Another thing I love with our bakery is we don’t necessarily have to have the products be identical. I call it ‘perfect imperfection’, which happens when the product is hand made.”