And while Dario's meat pies are jumping by 25cents, that increase is exactly what they had originally cost when it was first brought to market back in 1981.
Back then it was a really low-budget alternative to feed the everyman and woman on the go but under the careful hands of the original Mr Dario, it was just as tasty.
We learned that and more today when our cameras went inside Dario's meat pie Factory to see the entire process from start to finish.
This building on Hyde's lane needs no introduction. Every Belizean has either been here or has sampled one of its delectable meat pies.
But what's the history behind the nation's most famous pie and how it become the working Belizeans on the go breakfast of choice?
Brent Hernandez, Operations Manager, Dario's Meat Pies
"Originally my Daddy was a what they call those polvorong or the Spanish cake man riding around selling and so he has been doing that from a very young age you know hustling on the street and my grandmother, his mother, Dominga Blair, she used to be the one who was baking there and who was making the Spanish cake, the Spanish bread, and my dad goes out and sells them."
"His thing was he wanted something for the school children something that they could eat quickly while they are going to school, but can still be wholesome and hearty that can make them have a full belly so they could learn. I mean, it's hard for you to learn when because my dad grew up poor, he knew what it was to go to school hungry and that feeling. And he didn't. That's something he didn't like."
And that's how the mini meat pie was introduced to Belize, as a low budget food that the average man didn't have to stretch his shilling too hard to buy.
Brent Hernandez, Operations Manager, Dario's Meat Pies
"Meat pies was something that was a part of Belizean culture. But the culture back then was more of like a big pie that the family slices and shares. The meat was less gravy, more dry to hold that consistency. And so my mom and my daddy, they started experimenting and that's when in 81 or 82, I believe that's when we tried to Meat Pies and that's when, instant hit, instantly hit instantly. Everybody just loved it. You know, was a smaller size instead of the big size for the family. So you could travel and eat it, you could catch bus and go or I don't know taxi, whatever I go to on the way to school, you can eat the way to work, you can eat it. The price back then was like a shilling for a meat pie."
And how have those traditions evolved?
Well today they are a part of quite an impressive assembly line where Hernandez, family, and company take the raw materials and turn them into the famous Dario's pie.
Brent Hernandez, Operations Manager, Dario's Meat Pies
"The seasonings and stuff that we use that's mainly done upstairs in the family with my mom and my sisters. No, that's a secret. Yeah, correct. Correct. Down here, What we basically do is combine everything together, which is we have the mixers that will do the dual. We have the the cook would use the meat preparation of the meat. I cook the meat that's when you put them together and all the crust was in the bottom of the mold full stop with the meat and the gravy seal the cover on top. To seal it we normally use some forks to go along the edge to cut off any excess of the flour and then that's ready to go to baking for the people. Normally we put the egg wash up to, you know, give it that nice, beautiful look."
"It sounds easier than it actually is because several parts of the meat processing require a little art or little technique, something simple as what is what they call put the tortilla inside of the crust, it look easy, but trust me when you go there and you try it yourself. You will bore it you will make a hole, you will tear it. It takes a while before a develop that little technique it is an art. It's beautiful mein. Handmade meat pies is beautiful and love goes in. That's why it is so good."
During the pandemic, the factory added beef and chicken patties to its menu.
And Dario's has also started making a vegan soy pie. Managing Director Brent Hernandez says that pie has yet to be officially launched but claims that it's gaining popularity as a catered item for the South Asian community.
