Mining Meat Pies As A Licensing Opportunity

A recent deal bringing Guinness into the Cornish pasty category is just the latest collaboration in this small niche of the licensing business. 

A Cornish pasty is a small savory baked pie, typically made with beef, potatoes, rutabagas (called swedes in England), and onions encased in shortcrust pastry. First developed in the 13th century, pasties were a staple for tin miners in Cornwall, southwest England, who could easily carry them into the mines and eat them by hand, holding onto the thick crimped edges to ensure the arsenic on their fingers did not contaminate their meal. 

Today, pasties are ubiquitous in Cornwall and sold throughout the U.K. and beyond, at bakeries, at the supermarket, and through e-commerce. Many producers are still based in Cornwall, which is the only place where the Cornish descriptor can be used in the pasties’ name, due to the product’s Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status. More than 120 million pasties per year are made in Cornwall, with industry sales totaling £300 million (almost $400 million), according to the Cornish Pasty Association. Pasties with very similar recipes to the Cornish variety have also become regional dishes outside the U.K., in places such as the Upper Penninsula of Michigan and the Iron Range of Minnesota, where Cornish miners moved after the decline of tin mining in Cornwall. 

Over the years, pasty makers in Cornwall have increasingly experimented with non-traditional flavors, and this is often where pairing with outside partners can add value: 

• In February of this year, West Cornwall Pasty Co. in Truro, Cornwall, paired with Diageo, represented for licensing by Beanstalk, for a pasty filled with Guinness-marinated steak, smoked bacon, and vegetables. The product, made in Cornwall and baked fresh in-store, is available primarily at U.K. travel hubs such as train stations and motorway service stations across the country, and at Twickenham Stadium in London, home of English rugby. The introduction was timed to the start of the rugby season, since pasties and rugby are closely associated and the season is a peak sales period. 

• Warrens Bakery paired with Cornish Blue Cheese, another local-favorite heritage product in Cornwall, in April 2025 for a Steak & Cornish Blue Pasty. And, in 2024, the company partnered with Sandford Orchards (based in Crediton, Devon, a county adjacent to Cornwall) for a Pork & Devon Red Cider Pasty. Warrens has 43 stores and is headquartered in St. Just, Cornwall. It is billed as the world’s oldest Cornish pasty producer and is known for pairing traditional techniques with nontraditional flavors. 

• Ann’s Pasties, headquartered in Helston on Cornwall’s Lizard Peninsula, paired in 2023 with South London-based Eaten Alive, a marketer of kimchi and other fermented foods. The collaboration centered on a kimchi pasty, the world’s first according to the partners, available for shipping throughout the U.K. as well as through Ann’s shops. Eaten Alive was founded by two Cornwall chefs. 

• Ginsters, a marketer of savory baked goods headquartered in Callington, Cornwall, teamed with Quorn, a purveyor of mushroom-based, meat-free products, in 2019 for a vegan pasty made with traditional ingredients, but with Quorn substituted in place of the beef. This was the company’s second plant-based offering of that year after a Moroccan vegetable pasty in collaboration with Cornish chef Chris Eden. Ginsters holds the largest share of the Cornish pasty market. 

Outside of Cornwall, Carrs partnered with Aardman Animations for a Wallace & Gromit-inspired More Cheese, Ham, and Chilli Jam Pasty, in 2023. The product, timed to the 30th anniversary of Wallace & Gromit and the Wrong Trousers, included four cheeses (mature cheddar, Red Leicester, mozzarella, and Wensleydale — Wallace’s favorite) with pulled ham and caramelized onion, accompanied by a chili dip. Carrs is based in Bolton, northern England, near the Lancashire home of the characters. The pasty was available freshly baked from Carrs Pasties’ four stores in Bolton before being introduced as a frozen food in select retail locations. 

Other regional meat pie recipes have capitalized on the power of collaboration as well. For example, Australian wine brand Pepperjack, Australian bakery Balfours, and the Adelaide Oval, home to Australian rules football and other sports, partnered in 2024 for limited-edition Balfours x Pepperjack Pies, available at the venue during five Australian Football League Gather Round matches. This version of the meat pie — a favorite football snack — includes Pepperjack Barossa Shiraz red wine, beef, and mushroom in a flaky pastry.  

The very specific category of regional meat pies illustrates the many unique licensing opportunities that are available in different geographies. Niches such as these, whether in the food or non-food space, are something for licensors to keep in mind when expanding globally.