In what is quickly emerging as something of a New Year’s tradition, popular UK bakery chain Greggs has unveiled a vegan version of its much-loved steak bake.
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And, in a perfectly proportional response, British consumers camped out in the cold to get a first taste.
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Greggs’ new offering uses Quorn pieces in place of meat, and includes diced onions and a gravy filling wrapped in 96 layers of puff pastry. Quorn is a meat substitute that gets its protein content from a fermented fungus.
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The drive to expand Gregg’s vegan range illustrates the growing clamor among the public for vegan foods, and efforts by big corporate chains to meet demand. A big part of the push is offering meat alternatives.
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Barclays predicts the alternative meat sector could reach about $140 billion in sales over the next decade, capturing about 10% of the global meat industry, up from $14 billion currently.
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Greggs’ original steak bake is one of the most popular products at the main street chain, which has built something of a cult following among hungry Brits.
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For those who couldn’t wait, a Greggs store in Newcastle put on a preview on New Year’s Day.
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More than 100 people braved the chilly temperatures to be among the first to try the vegan steak bake on Wednesday night, the UK’s PA Media news agency reports.
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One customer tweeted that she was let into the store shortly after 10 p.m., before reviewing the bake as a thing of “beauty” and “grace.”
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The snack was widely rolled out in 1,300 stores on Thursday and will be available in another 700 in two weeks’ time.
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Why do Brits care so much about a vegan stake bake?
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Greggs’ vegan sausage roll was one of the company’s best-selling new products of the last six years, the chain said.
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The release of the vegan sausage roll last January helped boost the company’s sales in the first six months of 2019 by 15% over the previous year.
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“Our Vegan Sausage Roll launch was a huge success and we’ve been working tirelessly to expand our vegan friendly offering,” Greggs’ chief executive Roger Whiteside said in a press release.
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“The launch of our Vegan Steak Bake is another key milestone on our journey to become our customers’ favourite for food-on-the-go,” he added.
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The new snack was revealed with a flashy promotional video, hinting that it might just be “the greatest vegan creation ever.”
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The release coincides with the start of “Veganuary,” during which thousands of people take up a vegan diet in January.
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The nonprofit group of the same name, which promotes veganism, claims that a quarter of a million Brits pledged to ditch meat, eggs and dairy in January last year.
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