Vegan sausage rolls have helped to boost an “exceptional sales performance” at Greggs, with total sales up 14.1% for the seven weeks to 16 February.
This is a significant increase on the same period in 2018, when sales increased by 6.2%. Company-managed shops also enjoyed a sales rise of 9.6% in 2019, compared to just 2.9% over the same period in 2018.
As a result, Greggs said in a trading update today (19 February) that it anticipated the 2019 full-year underlying profit before tax was likely to be ahead of previous expectations.
“The performance builds on the strong finish to 2018, and has been supported by extensive publicity surrounding the launch of the vegan-friendly sausage roll at the start of January,” the company said.
“As a result, customer transaction numbers have increased, with additional sales mainly comprising savoury products, such as the vegan-friendly sausage roll and our other iconic sausage rolls and bakes.”
The vegan sausage roll was unveiled at the start of January in selected Greggs stores. Since then it has been rolled out to the company’s entire portfolio.
Greggs added that while the rate of growth had eased in February, the strength of trading was likely to have a material impact on the first-half result for 2019. This was because the comparative growth for 2018 was weak due to extreme weather, it added.
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