Greggs' vegan sausage rolls - the pr 'masterclass' that's bucking the trend
By Luke Chillingsworth
The launch of Greggs' new vegan sausage rolls was described as a masterclass in public relations from magazine PR week.
Launched on 3 January as a tie-in with Veganuary and after an online petition signed by 20,000 people from animal welfare group PETA, Greggs' new product arrived with fanfare, intrigue and scandal.
Piers Morgan’s ‘nobody was waiting for a vegan bloody sausage’ tweet was the spark the product needed. The UK’s media frenzy which followed launched the new sausage roll to instant stardom.
A bit exaggerated for a 100-gram, 300 calorie sausage roll? Not at all. The Vegan Sausage Roll has become the company’s fastest selling new product in six years, even though it isn’t even Greggs' first break into the vegan market.
Greggs have seen profits soar.
The success of the product has seen Greggs boast a 10% increase in like-for-like sales in the seven-week period since the product’s launch. A 14% increase in total sales means shares in the company are now at an all-time high.
Despite launching in just half of stores nationwide, the success has meant that vegan sausage rolls will be available at all 1,800 Greggs stores from March this year.
But it isn’t just Greggs that have been affected by the craze. In early March we saw vegan sausage rolls handed out as part of a Deliveroo marketing campaign, while Morrisons has been forced to slice prices for their sausage rolls to compete.
With some of Greggs' competitors such as Scottish bakery Aulds, Patisserie Valerie and EAT all closing high-street stores over the last twelve months, Greggs has bucked the trend of the UK food industry.
The vegan sausage roll has been a revelation.