Greggs, the UK’s largest bakery chain, will end speculation about its hotly anticipated new vegan snack by launching a meat-free version of its popular steak bake.
Since the runaway success of its meatless sausage roll, the chain – which serves more than 6 million customers a week from its 2,000 outlets – has been working to develop vegan versions of its other bestselling items.
The new product arrives on Greggs’ shelves at the start of Veganuary – a growing movement that encourages people to embrace plant-based diets during January.
The vegan steak bake has been created to mirror some of the original snack’s features, including 96 thin layers of puff pastry but without the egg glaze. The filling is made with pieces of the fungi-based protein Quorn instead of beef, mixed with diced onions and meat-free gravy.
Costing from £1.55, it will go on sale in 1,300 shops from Thursday before being rolled out to the remaining 700 outlets on 16 January.
Greggs’ chief executive, Roger Whiteside, said: “Our vegan sausage roll launch was a huge success and we’ve been working tirelessly to expand our vegan-friendly offering and provide more delicious savoury food on-the-go options for people looking to reduce their meat intake.”
Greggs’ vegan sausage roll – also with a bespoke Quorn filling – launched in January 2019 and has become one of its top 10 bestselling products, helping company sales soar by 13.4%. The chain says only 14% of the product’s customers are strictly vegan, with two-thirds aiming to reduce their meat intake.
Speculation about its successor has been mounting for months but has been rife for the last few days after a sign for a steak bake was spotted in a store and circulated on social media.
The launch comes as retailers expand their vegan and plant-based offerings amid the growing popularity of flexitarian diets – where a largely vegetable-based diet is supplemented occasionally with meat.
The Co-op chain is rolling out a new vegan range, called Gro, featuring 35 products, including alternatives to its steak bake, chilli con carne and sticky toffee pudding, that will be stocked in 2,000 stores and up to 4,000 independent retailers through its wholesale operation. The Co-op already offers almost 120 vegan wines but its entire beer and cider range will become vegan in 2020.
This month Waitrose is doubling its vegan range, adding more than 30 new own-label and branded products, of which many are “first to market”. They include crisp-crumbed fishless goujons made from banana blossom – a flesh flower that hails from south-east Asia – and a pizza topped with vegan pepperoni.
Meanwhile, diners at KFC will from Thursday be able to buy its new vegan burger – now a permanent item on its menu – after the success of an earlier trial. The fast-food chain’s usual “finger lickin’ good” chicken breast is replaced with a Quorn fillet coated in herbs and spices.
More than 100,000 people have already pledged to stick to a plant-based diet for Veganuary, double the number who took part last year.
