Greggs, the largest bakery chain of the UK reportedly launched a new meat-free steak bake. After the huge success of the company’s meatless sausage roll, it has increased its attention towards developing vegan versions of its other bestselling food products.

For the uninitiated, the firm serves over 6 million consumers every week from its 2,000 stores.

The new food product comes on the company’s shelves at the beginning of Veganuary – a rising movement that motivates people to adopt plant-based diets in January.

The new launch comes in the wake of retailers increasing the scope of their plant-based and vegan offerings on account of the increasing popularity of flexitarian foods, in which a heavy vegetable-based diet is served occasionally with meat.

Greggs’ vegan steak bake is innovated to mirror few characteristics of the original snack, which includes 96 thin layers of the puff pastry, but it won’t have the egg glaze. So, the filling is created with pieces of Quorn, a fungi-based protein. Quorn is a substitute for beef, and it is mixed with meat-free gravy and diced onions for the filling.

Retailing at £1.55, the steak bake would go on sale across 1,300 shops from Thursday. Remaining 700 outlets would have this bake for sale from 16 January.

Chief Executive of Greggs, Roger Whiteside stated that ever since the company’s vegan sausage roll was very successful, it has been continuously working to expand its vegan-friendly products and offer more tasty savory food options for customers looking to decrease their meat intake.

The vegan sausage roll of the company was launched back in January 2019. Since then, the food item has become one among its top 10 bestselling food items. This has helped the company to increase its sales by 13.4%.

Meanwhile, KFC has launched its new vegan burger which would be served to customers from Thursday. This vegan burger is now a permanent menu item, after the earlier trial’s success. The company’s usual chicken breast is changed with a Quorn fillet coated in spices and herbs.

For the record, over 100,000 people have readily sworn to adopt a plant-based diet for Veganuary. This number is double the total number of people taking pledge last year.

Source credit: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/jan/02/greggs-launches-meatless-steak-bake-beef-up-vegan-range