The American Pie Council (APC) is an organization committed to "preserving America's pie heritage and promoting America's love affair with pies."[2] As America's only purely pie-focused national organization,[3] the APC combines aspects of a hobby club, professional association, trade group, and pro-pie lobby.[1]
The APC offers both personal and commercial memberships which allow individual participants to have discussions and swap recipes with fellow pie lovers, while providing commercial members with business networking opportunities and promotional support.[1] The APC has run the APC National Pie Championships since 1995,[4] usually held in Celebration, Florida.[5] The competition is open to amateur, professional, and commercial bakers. There are 16 categories of pie including chocolate, pumpkin, and “Paramount Peach,” among others.[4]
The APC also sponsors or promotes other pie-centric events throughout the year.[6] The APC council also conducts surveys of pie consumption. APC research has shown that Apple is Americans' favorite pie, that 59% of Americans consider pie an appropriate late-night snack, and that 20% of Americans have eaten an entire pie.[7]
National Pie Day, which is held annually on January 23, is now sponsored by the APC since 1986.[2] The holiday was started in the mid-1970s by Boulder, Colorado teacher Charlie Papazian[8] after he declared his birthday to be National Pie Day.[9] This should not be confused with Pi Day which the U.S. Congress recognizes as March 14.
In 2014, the APC partnered with Paramount Pictures in promoting the romantic thriller film Labor Day in conjunction with National Pie Day.[10] (A pie-making scene features prominently in the film, and the film's general release was within a few days of National Pie Day.)
The APC distributed a promotional poster to pie shops and bakeries featuring images of the film's stars Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin, and Gattlin Griffith in the pie-making scene. Variety's take on the scene was "What damage [the 1999 film] American Pie did for the pie industry, Labor Day has reversed."[10]
American Pie Council; Hoskins, Linda (2012). America's Best Pies: Nearly 200 Recipes You'll Love (1st ed.). Skyhorse Publishing. ISBN978-1620871652.
American Pie Council; Hoskins, Linda (2014). America's Best Pies 2014-2015: Nearly 200 Recipes You'll Love (2nd ed.). Skyhorse Publishing. ISBN978-1629146720.
^ abcd"Company Overview of The American Pie Council". Bloomberg Businessweek. Archived from the original on January 24, 2014. Retrieved January 23, 2014. The American Pie Council provides personal, professional, and commercial memberships to pie lovers. The company allows consumer members to exchange recipes, in-store coupons, and ideas, as well as commercial members to participate in a variety of network and promotional opportunities.
^ ab"Who We Are". American Pie Council website. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
