Greggs is to target customers on weight-loss drugs by rolling out smaller portions and protein-rich alternatives as it battles a slowdown in sales.

Roisin Currie, the chief executive, said there was “no doubt” that the injections were changing “what and how” people eat, and that the bakery chain was looking at adapting its range to suit these customers.

It came as shares in Greggs plunged to their lowest level since the pandemic after it said weaker demand for its sausage rolls and other baked goods dealt a £10m blow to profits.

Ms Currie said: “If anyone is on a GLP-1 [weight-loss drug], we know they still need to eat, but what they need to eat starts to change and the portions that they start to eat are changing.

“That’s really important for us and making sure that we have got a variety of protein-led options in our range, and also making sure that we’ve got some of the snack products that customers are looking for if they are on any of the GLP-1 drugs.”

So-called GLP-1 weight loss drugs are named after the hormone they mimic in the brain which helps curb appetite and create a feeling of being fuller for longer.

Greggs said on Tuesday it had endured a “challenging start to 2025” as it posted a 14pc slump in profits to £63.5m in the first half of the year. Sales grew by 7pc compared with a year ago but it marked a slowdown from 11pc during the same period in 2024.

The company blamed higher costs as well as “heavy snow and strong winds” and the recent heatwave for decline in customers visiting its stores.

Ms Currie said: “Hot food doesn’t sell well in those [high] temperatures. We know that people eat less when it starts to get to those temperatures.”

Shares slumped as much as 9pc to £15 following the announcement, later recovering some of their losses. The company is now worth 40pc less than it was since the start of the year as investors grow wary over whether demand for Greggs is waning.

Greggs said it shut 56 stores in the first half of the year, which included the relocation of 27 sites. Greggs said it had also opened 87 stores during the period and was on track to 3,000 UK shops in the future. It currently has 2,649 stores.

Ms Currie denied the UK had reached “peak Greggs” and maintained that there was “significant opportunity” to open new stores in areas such as supermarkets, retail parks and transport hubs.

She said the store closures were in line with previous years as it assessed its estate for where it continued to grow.

Ms Currie said Greggs had “the flexibility that if you see a catchment has changed, or high street has changed”, then it was able to move sites.

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The move to push ahead with store openings comes despite analysts saying its expansion targets were too ambitious.

Peel Hunt recently raised concerns over its growth plans, saying: “This implies store densities of one Greggs for every 19,000 people, which comes well ahead of McDonald’s store estate and ahead of Costa.”

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