Pie Fun Facts: Raise Your Pi-Q

  • People are passionate about pie. In 2022, Datassential’s food and beverage
    insights found 78% of consumers said they love or like pie.
  • The top three pie flavors according to sales in 2022 were apple (toffee apple
    streusel), pumpkin and cherry. The 2021 top flavors were strawberry, apple and
    lime.
  • Consumed outside the home, pie is the third-most common dessert offered on
    restaurant menus, according to Datassential.
  • Approx. $2 billion in pies are sold in grocery stores every year. This does not
    include restaurants, food service or price clubs, only grocery stores. If you lined
    up the number of pies sold at U.S. grocery stores in one year, they would circle
    the globe and then some.
  • According to an American Pie Council® survey: Nearly one out of five (19%) of
    Americans prefer apple pie, followed by pumpkin (13%), pecan (12%), banana cream
    (10%) and cherry (9%)
  • According to an American Pie Council® survey: Pie just isn’t for after-dinner
    dessert. Thirty-five percent of Americans say they’ve had pies for breakfast. Pies
    as lunch (66%) and midnight snacks (59%) also have a popular following.
  • According to an American Pie Council® survey: When asked what dessert
    Americans would prefer a friend or family member bring to their house for a
    holiday dinner, pie was the winner with 29%. Cake (17%) and cookies (15%) rounded
    out the top-three spots.
  • Pumpkin pie was first introduced to the holiday table at the pilgrim’s second
    Thanksgiving in 1623.
  • Pie was not always America’s favorite dessert – in the 19th Century, fruit pies were
    a common breakfast food eaten before the start of a long day.
  • According to a “Pie Slice of Life” Survey, conducted by Schwan’s Consumer
    Brands North America, Inc., Carol Brady of The Brady Bunch was picked by 40%
    of survey respondents as the TV mom that would bake the best pie. The Cosby
    Show’s Claire Huxtable was second with 22%, Desperate Housewives’ Bree Van de
    Camp was third with 16 percent, Everybody Loves Raymond’s Debra Barone was
    fourth with 13% while The Simpsons’ Marge Simpson came in fifth with 8%.
    According to a “Pie Slice of Life” Survey, conducted by Schwan’s Consumer
    Brands North America, Inc., also revealed that when asked “Who Makes the Best
    Pie?,” Mom rates highly (27%), and store bought convenience pie came in a close
    second with a 26% slice of the pie – beating out Grandma who garnered 17%.
    Pie by the Numbers

  • $2.2 billion Pies sold grocery stores in 2022.
  • In a 2023 YouGov.com poll of the Most Popular American Dishes, apple pie came in
    11th. Right after corn on the cob, but right before Southern Style fried chicken.

  • 8.17% of U.S. restaurants offer apple pie on the menu.
  • Social conversations about pie have increased 61.02% from 2022.
  • Apple pies were 27% of all pie sales in 2023. The clear winner.
  • 3.6 million pies sold through Instacart in 2021.
  • 50 million pumpkin pies devoured each November.
  • 36 million Americans who identify apple pie as their favorite
  • 47% of Americans for whom the word “comforting” comes to mind when they think
    of pie
  • 6 million American men ages 35-54 have eaten the last slice of pie and denied it
  • 27% of Americans believe chocolate pie is the most romantic to share with
    someone special
  • 1 in 5 Americans have eaten an entire pie by themselves
  • 113 million Americans have eaten pie for breakfast
  • 75 million Americans prefer to drink milk with their pie
  • 32% of Americans prefer no crust on top of their pie
  • 90% of Americans who agree that a slice of pie represents one of the simple
    pleasures in life
  • 9% of Americans prefer to eat their pie crust-first
  • 7% Americans have passed off a store-bought pie as homemade
  • 18% of men say their wife makes the best homemade pie
  • 2% of women say their husband makes the best homemade pie
  • There are only 6 Official State Pies:
    ● 1999 — Vermont — apple pie
    ● 2006 – Florida — Key Lime
    ● 2009 – Delaware — Peach pie
    ● 2011 — Maine — blueberry pie
    ● 2013 – Texas — Pecan pie
    ● 2016 — Illinois — Pumpkin pie

  • While not the official state pie or dessert, in 1988, Ohio designated pecan pie
    as the dessert of the state’s official state meal.
  • All Hail the U.S. Presidents who chose pie as their favorite dessert.

  • George Washington is known for his association with cherries. His wife
    Martha used these to make George’s favorite cherry pie.
  • John Tyler was fond of pudding pie.
  • James K. Polk favored vinegar pie, with a base of homemade apple cider
    vinegar, brewed up from apple peels and cores, fresh rainwater, and a touch
    of honey./li>

  • Not a fancy diner, Franklin Pierce’s favorite sweet was a type of fried
    apple pie common to New Hampshire.
  • At just over 6 ft. 3 in., Lincoln was our country’s tallest president. He
    preferred a simple and tart lemon custard pie.
  • A man of simple tastes, James Garfield enjoyed apple pie./li>
  • William Howard Taft liked pumpkin pie./li>
  • Herbert Hoover enjoyed a family recipe for peach pie.
  • Jimmy Carter loved peanut butter pies.
  • According to Barack Obama’s personal White House chef Bill Yosses, pies
    were always on the menu when the Obamas were in the house, including two
    favorites sweet potato and apple.
  • Probably no other American wrote as many words about pie as Mark Twain. Twain
    so loved pies that he often ate half a pie pie for lunch and finished it off for
    dinner. He published his own recipes, and according to his housekeeper, when in
    bouts of depression, the only thing he would consume would be an ice-cold bottle
    of milk and his favorite pie, fresh from the oven.
  • Taylor Swift seems to be inspired through her home baking, often baking her pie
    of choice – apple. In the early years of her career, apple pie would show up often
    in her Instagram feed.
  • In 2015, Patti Labelle turned her secret family recipe for sweet potato pie into a
    Wal-Mart sensation. The Good Life by Patti Labelle Sweet Potato Pie sells 36,000
    pies a day or 1,500 pies an hour or one pie every two seconds.
  • As of November 2023, the top five most Googled pies were:
    ● Pumpkin pie.
    ● Apple pie.
    ● Pecan pie.
    ● Cherry pie.
    ● Lemon meringue pie.

  • As of November 2023, the top five pie flavors sold on Goldbelly were:
    ● Key Lime
    ● Apple
    ● Pecan
    ● Pumpkin
    ● Cherry

    Pie Personalities
    If you love…Apple Pie

  • You are likely to describe yourself as…A classic, you love the simple things in life
    and have a warm, embracing nature.

  • If you love…Pecan Pie
    You are likely to describe yourself as…Thoughtful and analytical

  • If you love…Chocolate Pie
    You are likely to describe yourself as…Light-hearted, a child at heart

  • If you love…Pumpkin Pie
    You are likely to describe yourself as…Passionate with strong opinions

  • If you love…Cherry Pie
    You are likely to describe yourself as…A people person, tangy and fun

  • If you love…Blueberry Pie
    You are likely to describe yourself as…A dependable, underrated friend, you never
    fail to put a smile on people’s faces

  • If you love…Lemon Meringue
    You are likely to describe yourself as…Bubbly and fun, you light up every room you
    walk into

    Pie Preferences

  • More than one-third of Americans have eaten pie in bed
  • Nearly one in four women believe that they make the best pie – better than Mom
    or Grandma
  • More than one-third of Americans have craved pie in the middle of the night

    Other Fun Facts

  • The first mention of a fruit pie in print is from Robert Green’s Arcadia (1590):
    “thy breath is like the steame of apple-pyes.”
  • The wet bottom molasses pie, Shoo-fly pie, was used to attract flies from the
    kitchen.
  • Oliver Cromwell banned the eating of pie in 1644, declaring it a pagan form of
    pleasure. For 16 years, pie eating and making went underground until the
    Restoration leaders lifted the ban on pie in 1660.
  • During the 16th century, the upper crust English were known for their “Surprise
    Pies” in which live creatures would pop out when the pie was cut open. Foxes,
    squirrels, frogs, horses and even “four and twenty blackbirds” were concealed in
    an incredible pie under a removable pie crust lid, all created to impress guests at
    aristocratic banquets.
  • At one time it was against the law to serve ice cream on cherry pie in Kansas.
  • “As easy as pie” is an American expression. In the 1890’s, “pie” was a common slang
    expression meaning anything easy, a cinch; the expression “easy as pie” stemmed
    quite readily from that.
  • The airplane Buddy Holly died in was named the “American Pie.”
  • Boston Cream Pie is a cake, not a pie.
  • Pies are favorite props for humor, particularly when aimed at the pompous.
  • Throwing a pie in a person’s face has been a staple of film comedy since the early
    days of the medium, and real-life pranksters have taken to targeting politicians
    and celebrities with their pies, an act called “pieing.”

Our Blog

Pie Baking Tips

Read the recipe in its entirety before beginning. Make sure you have all of the ingredients and utensils and that you understand all of the directions. Many mistakes have been made skipping steps. Cold ingredients are essential to making a great pie crust It even...

read more