Greggs doing vegan better
PROFITS SET TO BE BIGGER THAN CHAIN ANTICIPATED FOR THE YEAR
NEWCASTLE bakery giant Greggs is toasting an “exceptionally strong” start to the year driven by sales of its attention-grabbing vegan sausage roll.
Shares in the food-on-the-go favourite jumped 9% in early trading after the company said it would be lifting its full-year profit outlook.
The group said trading had been boosted by extensive publicity surrounding the launch of the new savoury product at the start of January.
The hot snack was in demand when it first went on sale in 900 stores, with its success taking the firm by surprise.
Greggs chief executive Roger Whiteside then announced the firm was ramping up production to get the tasty treat into all stores.
The firm has now cheered an “exceptionally strong” start to 2019 as the stir caused by the launch of the snack saw a jump in customer transactions.
The group posted a 9.6% rise in likefor-like sales for the seven weeks to February 16, with total sales up 14.1%. This compares with a 2.9% hike in likefor-like sales a year earlier, when trading was hit by extreme weather.
Greggs said: “The rate of growth has eased slightly in February but the strength of trading is likely to have a material impact on the first-half result for 2019.”
It added: “Overall the board now anticipates that 2019 full-year underlying profit before tax (excluding exceptional charges) is likely to be ahead of its previous expectations.”
January’s news that Greggs was to sell a vegan-friendly sausage roll inspired a flurry of commentary nationwide.
Greggs sells 1.5 million sausage rolls a week but created the new option due to public demand after an online petition by Peta calling for a vegan version was signed by more than 20,000 people last year.
Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said it was clear that adding vegan options is becoming a top priority for food retailers, with Marks & Spencer among those to have launched a vegan range recently.