Greggs Lets Sausage Rolls And Bakes Go Cold On Purpose, Former Employee Reveals

Greggs staff let food go cold on purpose, a former employee has revealed.

The popular bakery was recently put under the microscope in Channel 5 documentary Inside Greggs: Britain's Best Bakery.

The programme looked at the secrets behind the pastry purveyor's huge success, including how it manages to offer up grub at such affordable prices.

Former store manager James Oldfield said customers pay the price in temperature, rather than pounds.

PA

He said: "The reason Greggs can have such reasonable prices is they're not charged VAT if they're not keeping them warm. They're just baking them fresh."

Greggs previously confirmed this in a statement in 2019.

The chain explained: "We sell savouries which are freshly baked in our shop ovens then put on the shelf to cool. We don't keep them in a heated environment, use heat retaining packaging, or market them as hot because of this.

"As bakers we believe that baking our savouries fresh each day gives customers the best quality product.

"If the sausage rolls and bakes were kept hot after they had been baked, then they would be subject to VAT and the customer would have to be charged a higher price, in the same way that we charge VAT on our hot sandwiches which are kept in a heated cabinet and are subject to VAT."

As such, the bakeries cook their pastries in small batches, frequently - your challenge is to time your trip correctly.

Aldi recently launched its own sausage bean and cheese melt to rival Greggs.

For 42p a piece, the budget supermarket's version is almost a quarter of the price of a Greggs one (about £1.50 each). They come in packs of two for 85p and are in store now.

The mighty sausage bean and cheese melt isn't the only new addition to Aldi's fakeaway pastry selection. They've also got a cheese and onion bake - again for 85p for two.

Aldi has taken the fakeaway scene by storm in the last few months and even has a dedicated fakeaway section on its website.

After the success of its McDonald's Fillet-o-ish alternative, it recently launched a whole range of McDonald's look-alikes; Big Macs, hash browns and even a box of 12 chicken nuggets with dip have come in store.

Absolutely brazen, as ever.

Topics: Greggs, Food, UK News

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey