Greggs staff use a secret code to tell each pasty apart

Steak bake and sausage roll lovers have been tucking into a new documentary about Greggs.

Greggs: Secrets of Their Best Bakes aired on Channel 5 last night, and fans are hungry for more secrets after learning that staff use a secret code to tell each pasty apart.

Columnist and food critic Grace Dent - who is hosting the new documentary - says that there is no secret as to why Greggs has become such a success in the North East.

“Geordies feel they absolutely own Greggs,” she said. “We tried to find a Geordie who had never tried a Greggs, with the idea we’d take them there for the first time.

“But everyone we asked laughed in our face!

“Geordies have this real persona of being chirpy, down to earth and always tell the truth, and that always comes through in the Greggs brand.”

Greggs has over 2,000 stores around the UK, along with a menu of dishes, which range from savoury steak bakes to sweet donuts for under a quid.

Products, like the sausage rolls, are usually made in batches at a central factory, then distributed around the country.

All that's left for staff to do is to bake the various batches in-store for 18 minutes before they are presented to customers behind the glass cabinets.

As there's usually more than 70 items on the menu, you'd think that mixing up similar-looking pastries could be quite an easy thing to do.

However, one of Greggs' biggest secrets has now been revealed.

Greggs

The documentary has revealed that each bake has a different marking on its top, so it's easier for staff to tell with a glance what’s inside it.

For example, the chicken bake has wavy lines, while the steak bake features diagonal slashes.

The sausage and baked bean melt have horizontal slashes across its width.

And the beef and vegetable pasty has a 'humptiback' - or pinched frills if you aren't from Newcastle - along the top.

But it also turns out that the secret markings aren’t just for coding the products.

The markings also allow the steam to escape in the oven - to keep the pastry crisp and not soggy.

“You’re looking for some breakage in the pastry but as you can see they’re evenly spaced for even lift on the product. It’s always science,” says Sukina Coyle, Regional Process Development Manager.

Greggs: Secrets of Their Best Bakes is available to watch on Channel 5 catch-up now.