Greggs vegan sausage roll boosts sales

Greggs has credited the fanfare around the launch of its vegan sausage roll for driving a sharp rise in sales.

The bakery chain said the publicity the snack gained helped sales surge 9.6% in the seven weeks to 16 February.

The snack, made from meat substitute quorn, launched at the start of the year, coinciding with Veganuary when many people go vegan for a month.

The update on current trading came as the firm said annual sales had broken through £1bn for the first time.

Chief executive Roger Whiteside said Greggs had spent “millions of pounds” transforming itself.

“We want people to reappraise us and understand we’ve moved on from being a pure bakery business to offering people food on the go,” he told the BBC’s Today programme.