Greggs' Vegan Sausage Roll Sells Out Across the UK and Sends Bakery Profits Soaring

Greggs' vegan sausage roll has sold out in shops across the UK, sparked a national argument and helped push the bakery chain's sales past £1 billion for the first time.

In its full-year results today, Greggs reported that sales for 2018 rose 7.2% to just over £1 billion, with pre-tax profits up 15% to £82.6 million, or £89.8 million before one-off costs. Even better, like-for-like sales in its own shops jumped 9.6% in the first seven weeks of 2019, which the company puts down partly to the publicity around its new vegan roll.

The roll, filled with Quorn mycoprotein in place of pork, launched on January 3 in 950 of Greggs' 1,900 shops. It didn't last long. The Western Road branch in Brighton sold out completely by 11 o'clock on the first morning, and every Greggs in Glasgow city center sold out. Greggs is now rolling it out to all of its shops.

Then there was Piers Morgan. When the launch was announced he tweeted "Nobody was waiting for a vegan bloody sausage, you PC-ravaged clowns." Greggs replied: "Oh hello Piers, we've been expecting you." As The Drum noted at the time, the row only sent more customers rushing to try one.

Chief executive Roger Whiteside said alongside the results:

Whilst there are significant uncertainties in the months ahead, Greggs has started 2019 in great form, helped in part by the publicity surrounding the launch of our vegan-friendly sausage roll. We hope to continue benefiting from this strong momentum during the first half of 2019 before facing stronger comparatives later in the year.

Greggs sells 1.5 million sausage rolls a week. It created the vegan version after a PETA petition calling for one was signed by more than 20,000 people. That's what voting with your wallet looks like.

Piers, if you're reading, the shareholders would like a word.

There's a serious point under the pastry. The World Health Organization classifies processed meats like sausages as a Group 1 carcinogen, the same category as tobacco smoke, and since that warning UK bacon sales have slumped by £123 million. A vegan roll gives people the comfort food without the risk.

This comes straight after a record 250,000 people signed up for Veganuary. It follows Pizza Hut launching vegan cheese across the UK, the hugely successful Veggie Pret, Sainsbury's vegan cheese beating sales predictions by 300%, and Tesco launching its Wicked Kitchen vegan range.

If the humble sausage roll can go vegan, anything can.