Stampede for vegan steak bakes
● KFC and Subway also aim to cash in on Veganuary
The success of Greggs’ vegan sausage roll may just have been the beginning.
The launch of the bakery chain’s vegan steak bake has prompted late-night queues, with customers waiting in line up to 20 minutes to try the new snack. More than 300,000 people have signed up to take part in Veganuary in a sign of the movement’s growing popularity.
The late-night launch of Greggs’ vegan steak bake was met with 20-minute queues, after more than 300,000 people signed up to take part in Veganuary.
KFC and Subway are also among a number of companiesreleasingsnacksfreefrom meat and animal products, as they attempt to emulate the huge success of Greggs’ vegan sausage roll last year.
Wednesday night’s release event in Newcastle for Greggs’ new pastry, filled with pieces of meat substitute Quorn, diced onions and gravy, saw more than 100 queue to be the first to try the product. Vegan Emma Phillips queued for around 20 minutes and said she “really liked” the bake, adding it is “better than the vegan sausage roll”.
“My son isn’t vegan and is always ready to criticise vegan food, but even he said he’d gladly buy that over the meatbased option,” she said.
“A launch like this is huge for the vegan movement ... 30 years ago vegetarian wouldn’t have been mentioned on a menu, now we’re seeing a vegan logo on many.
“The marketing raises the profile of the movement, which could lead people to making long-term changes in their own diets.”
The 40-year-old said there was a “good atmosphere” in the queue despite “ribbing about it being a vegan product launch” from some New Year’s Day revellers.
The release of Greggs’ vegan sausage roll last January saw the company’s profits soar more than 52 per cent to £36.7 million for the 26 weeks to 29 June 2019.
Othercompaniesalsoappear to be looking to capitalise on veganism’s rising popularity.
KFC yesterday released a vegan burger, made with a Quorn fillet, lettuce and vegan mayonnaise.
Sandwich maker Subway has also released a meatless meatballmarinara,madewith plant-based meat replacements, marinara sauce and vegan cheese.
This month’s launch of restaurant chain Frankie & Benny’s new vegan menu has been backed by rock music legend Meat Loaf.
A study by data company Kantar found 1.3 million Britons chose to forego animal products last January, with 366,000 saying they did so as part of the Veganuary initiative.
The study of the household purchases of 30,000 British households found those who cut out animal products maintained reduced consumption until at least July 2019, amounting to at least 4,452,603kg of animal products. Veganuary calculates this reduction equates to approximately 3.6 million animals.