As the go-to option for on-the-go meals, sandwiches are deeply rooted in British culinary culture.
The introduction of premium meal deals at supermarkets three years ago, however, has seen the culture evolve. Shoppers have revelled in higher quality options and have been trading up ever since.
“The premium sandwiches market in the UK has demonstrated exceptional growth with a compound annual growth rate of 29% since 2022, compared to just 3% for standard sandwiches over the same period,” says Rachel Smith, head of innovation at Greencore, citing Circana data to 25 January 2026.
Premium sandwiches, including both own label and branded products, now represent 6% of the total sandwich market, she adds.
As the UK’s largest sandwich manufacturer and supplier to major supermarkets, Greencore is well positioned to capitalise on this category segment growth. Its most recent quarterly trading update (ended 26 December 2025) reported double-digit volume growth of its premium sandwiches, contributing towards a 5.4% rise in revenue to £499.8m.
There’s also been a wealth of gourmet sandwich brands popping up on high streets, side streets, shopping centres, business districts, and travel hubs across the country.
So, what’s behind the nation’s new-found love of gourmet sarnies? And what flavour and format trends are playing out at the moment?
The price is right
Aston Higton at Little Vic’s Deli in Derby believes the demand is being driven by a simple shift. “People still love sandwiches – they just want them done properly,” he says.
Higton decided to open Little Vic’s, a hole-in-the-wall outlet inspired by New York delis, after conducting market research in London and Manchester. The menu comprises six sandwiches including beef, chicken, vegetarian, and vegan options, using thick-cut, grainy bloomer-style bread supplied Luke Evans Bakery in nearby Riddings. Its philosophy is “premium ingredients, strong flavour combinations, and serious portion size”.
Greencore’s Smith has also seen more consumers seeking out superior quality and taste.
“Premium sandwiches deliver just that,” she notes. “They have better ingredients, visible freshness, generous fillings, and more distinctive combinations of flavours.”
Thoughtful innovation and impactful condiments may be best placed to drive both repeat purchase and new trial. But perceptions of value have shifted as well.
“Rather than focusing solely on price, consumers are seeking reassurance that a sandwich justifies its cost, with evident freshness and strong ingredient credentials giving confidence that every component contributes meaningfully to the overall experience,” contends Stéphanie Brillouet, marketing & innovation director at bakery supplier Délifrance.
Subway may be commonly regarded as an affordable out-of-home option, but its policy of promoting personalisation of orders – dubbed ‘The Subway Effect’ by Finsbury Food Group’s senior marketing manager Naomi Hemmings – has made its mark across the industry. She points to Lumina Intelligence’s UK Food to Go Market Report from March 2025 that found 45% of food items on QSR, coffee, and sandwich menus were customisable. This reflects a “wider expectation of choice” among consumers, notes Hemmings.
Best thing since sliced bread
Carrier choice is central to premium perception, says William Page, marketing & digitalisation director at Croydon-based food-to-go supplier Simply Lunch. Moving beyond traditional sliced bread and into the likes of focaccia and pretzel formats make an immediate difference on shelf, he adds.
Simply Lunch utilised both of these carriers and more in its new premium ‘Made’ range, which has reached sales of £5m since launching last year. Among the options are a Chicken, Chorizo & Nduja Focaccia and a Veggie New Yorker Pretzel, while other carriers showcased in the range include tomato bread, turmeric wraps, and ciabattas made with Wildfarmed regenerative flour.
Page notes these bring colour, texture and depth of flavour to the fixture. “Using Wildfarmed flour also reflects growing interest in more responsible sourcing and regenerative agriculture, aligning premium quality with progressive ingredient choices,” he comments.
In November 2025, Délifrance commissioned 3Gem to survey 1,000 UK adults who regularly eat sandwiches. Brillouet says the research suggests that the type and dough of the carrier directly influence how tasty a sandwich feels. “Bread should be treated as part of the flavour profile, not just the vehicle for the filling,” she adds, noting that baguettes are a particularly prevalent choice among older consumers while sourdough and healthier breads like wholemeal, seeded, malted, or granary are also very popular.
Hemmings at Finsbury reminds to ensure a thicker-cut slice, so that the carriers are “robust enough to withstand the volume of fillings consumers now expect their sandwiches to contain”.
This is the rationale behind the exclusive use of focaccia as a carrier at Max’s Sandwich Shop in north London. “Our sandwiches are all hot and super juicy so need crust everywhere to maintain structural integrity until the end,” says founder Max Halley, who has written a sandwich cookbook that was on the Sunday Times top 10 bestseller list.
Max’s only has four sandwiches on its menu at any one time including its signature Ham, Egg ‘n’ Chips sandwich (rsp: £14.95) which has people travelling far and wide to get their hands on. Its current line-up also includes a sandwich filled with pea & green bean Kokkinisto (Greek-style stew) and mint garlic yoghurt, one with goat bolognese and fried pasta, and another featuring a version of a Caesar salad with poached chicken and tarragon & pickled grape salsa.
Halley reveals the firm doesn’t mark its vegetarian option with a ‘(v)’ as “it puts meat eaters off”. For Thursday and Friday lunches, the shop uses buns made from its focaccia dough to make special sandwiches with fillings like fried chicken or BLT.
But a gourmet sandwich can also be created with something a bit more delicate.
Erwan Inizan, Northern Europe sales director of frozen bakery supplier Bridor, highlights the significant growth of savoury pastries in food to go – up 15.1% [Kantar 52 w/e 1 September 2024]. What’s more, he points to a Bridor survey of 6,000 adults which said 71% were open to eating savoury sandwiches made with croissants. As such, the firm has recently launched the Maxi Croissant, a 120g pastry that provides foodservice operators with a base for hot or cold sandwiches.
Having its moment
A lack of excitement among traditional sandwich makers, who are more focussed on convenience, was one of the things Michael Medovnikov and Sacha Yonan noticed during their research of the UK’s QSR sector in 2022.
This led them to ask the question: ‘What if sandwiches were treated like burgers?’. The answer saw them partner with chef Joni Francisco later that year to launch new premium sandwich brand Crunch in London, featuring a menu of hot sandwiches in brioche-style bread that were not only visually different but also showcasing more emotionally driven flavours.
At the recent MCA Food To Go Conference, the co-founders described their offering as “indulgent, nostalgic, and comforting, like a hot meal at home, while at the same time something you’re trying for the first time”. Over the past year, Crunch has grown from one to three sites across the capital with revenue leaping up 146%.
Freddie Sheen, co-founder of London-based Rogue Sarnies, also thinks premium sandwiches are at the front of a wave once enjoyed by burgers, and before that pizzas. “Premium sandwiches sit in a really interesting space because they still allow people to access restaurant-quality ingredients and cooking, but in a much more affordable format,” he says. “They’re familiar, versatile, and when they’re done properly they can be just as satisfying as a restaurant dish. It’s essentially a way for people to still treat themselves without completely breaking the bank.”
Up in York is sourdough specialist Cosgriff and Sons created its own signature focaccia roll specifically for its sandwiches that change monthly to reflect what’s fresh and in season. Recent popular lines include Buffalo Cauliflower with Alex James Blue Cheese and Black Coffee Venison.
“By using local ingredients and creating chef-led recipes, we’re able to offer combinations that feel thoughtful and a bit indulgent; something quite different from what most people would quickly put together at home,” says Australian-born co-founder Paul Cosgriff. “It’s that care in sourcing, quality produce and well-balanced flavours that’s really driving demand.”
Super-sized fillings
UK consumers have been drooling over social media posts of generously filled New York deli sandwiches that they now want on their home streets.
“TikTok has driven the demand for Caesar salad sandwiches and American-style builds with layers of meat-led fillings are proving popular,” comments Finsbury’s Hemmings.
She warns about the fast pace of change in food to go, however. “Staying relevant means moving quickly with limited time offers or offerings and planned menu cycles so innovation lands at the right moment, not after the trend has passed.”
A good example of this is the limited-edition Buffalo Caesar Focaccia sandwich (rsp: £10.95) recently launched at all Atis restaurants across London via a partnership with bakery brand The Dusty Knuckle. Available for just two weeks, it combines focaccia with crisp romaine, sliced avocado, blackened chicken, grated parmesan, crispy shallots, Caesar dressing and a hit of buffalo sauce.
The standout sandwich at Little Vic’s, meanwhile, is the New York Dip (rsp: £10.50). This trades the classic deli pastrami for sous-vide marinated topside beef, which is then layered with Emmental cheese, gherkins, caramelised and crispy onions, American mustard, and house-made mayo in grainy bloomer bread.
“When people see a thick, layered cross-section packed with slow-cooked meats and house-made sauces, it feels indulgent but still accessible,” says founder Higton.
Sheen at Rogue Sarnies admits the American-style sandwiches with huge cross-sections and stacked fillings “tend to do very well on Instagram” but claims his menu options are built around how they actually eat rather than what looks impressive online.
Their biggest seller since day one is the Beef Dip (rsp: £13.50), comprising two types of beef – sticky braised shin and wood-fire roasted topside – dipped in beef jus and finished with an in-house mustard blend, sliced cornichons, salted sweet white onions, and cracked black pepper. All of the sandwiches at Rogues come in a semolina-coated roll made with Wildfarmed flour and baked on-site.
Over at Crunch, there’s US influences in some of its bestsellers like the Michaels Chicken (rsp: £10), made with Southern-fried chicken cutlet, lettuce, baby pickles, and homemade dill aioli, while the Patty Melt (£11) features truffle beef patties, red Leicester cheese, crispy onion marmalade, and black truffle mayo.
Then there’s Sensational Sandwiches, which recently saw its sizeable social media following – currently 1.3m on Instagram – support a move to open a first physical shop in London’s South Bank area. Founder Fraser Searle told British Baker that his “most popular recipes have been (unsurprisingly) the most indulgent sandwiches I’ve made”. This includes the Chicken Parm-Mac n Cheese Truffle Sandwich, which received over 66 million views on Instagram and 15 million on TikTok.
Tastes of Asia
Along with influences from across the pond, favourite foods from the Pacific rim are also translating to sandwich fillings here.
“A clear growth area is Korean-inspired flavours such as Korean BBQ-style chicken and pulled pork,” suggests Hemmings at Finsbury.
Sensational Sandwiches’ Searle is already on board with this sentiment. Out of dozens of recipe choices, he picked his favourite Korean Fried Chicken to be one of just two options offered at the launch of his new shop – limited due to space constraints. Taking its cue from the street food found in Seoul’s bustling markets, the sandwich (rsp: £14) has crunchy chicken pieces combined with spicy coleslaw, pickled cucumber, and lettuce, tucked inside sturdy white bread.
This can also be seen at artisan bakery Chatsworth Bakehouse in London which is renowned for its big sandwiches. The plant-based Kimchi Faceplant Sandwich is packed with kimchi-style chopped salad, spicy mayo, and crispy onions in freshly-baked bread.
From Korean street food to Japanese comfort food, and one of Crunch’s other top selling sandwiches, the Katsu Sando (rsp: £12) which features deep-fried tonkatsu pork, Japanese apple jam, nori & shichimi togarashi mayo, and shredded cabbage.
Another Japanese classic, the Fruit Sando, was the inspiration behind one of the smash hits of Wimbledon season last year – the M&S Red Diamond Strawberry & Creme Sandwich.
Sandwiching in the health benefits
Consumer behaviour across all foods is changing. Coupled with the growing use of GLP-1 weight loss injections, there’s an increased focus on nutrition and portion balance including in sandwiches.
Smith at Greencore says they expect a “stronger focus on health-led innovation, including products that emphasise fibre, gut health, and more nutrient-dense ingredients”. Last month, the manufacturer announced a new brand licencing deal with MyProtein to make a range of high-protein wraps for sale at Sainsbury’s stores.
Danish juice bar and coffee shop chain Joe & The Juice, meanwhile, appeals to health-conscious consumers with its signature sandwich carrier, a fibre-rich, Scandi-inspired rye flatbread. Thin and crunchy, the bread has been specially developed with a dedicated third-party supplier to ensure consistency as well as compliment the brand’s flavour-forward fillings such as its bestselling Tunacado made with whipped tuna mousse, avocado, tomato, and pesto.
With all the meats and cheeses that can be found packed into gourmet sandwiches, they are well aligned with the protein trend. For example, Joe & The Juice the introduced ‘The Steak’ sandwich last year, which delivers more than 30g of protein. It comprises sliced steak paired with nutty Grana Padano and Parmesan, pickles, tomato, arugula and zesty honey mustard, inside the signature toasted rye flatbread. A new limited-edition premium sandwich packing over 44g of protein is set to launch later this spring, reveals the company.
Consumers remain hungry for fresher ingredients, bolder flavours, and more imaginative formats. The momentum behind premium sandwiches shows no sign of slowing, presenting suppliers and retail brands a golden opportunity in the space and continue creating elevated on-the-go offerings
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