Greggs hails vegan sausage roll as sales top £1bn

The bakery chain posted a 15% rise in pre-tax profits to £82.6 million in 2018, with sales rising 7.2% to just over £1bn.

Company-managed shop like-for-like sales were up 2.9% in the period.

Greggs said that while the first half of 2018 was impacted by extreme weather, it was able to bounce back and perform ahead of expectations.

For 2019, Greggs hailed the “enthusiastic reception” and “extraordinary” level of social and general media coverage surrounding its vegan sausage roll, which has helped spur a spike in footfall since its January launch.

Like for like sales were up by 9.6% in the seven weeks to February 16 and CEO Roger Whiteside paid homage to the impact of the roll alongside the firm’s full-year 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.”