Sales of “gluten-free ‘Balanced Choice’ soup”, caramel lattes and “focaccia-style pizza” are partly behind Gregg’s lifting of its total sales 7.4 per cent for the 2017 financial year from the chain that once relied on coffee and sandwiches.
The pace of like-for-like growth slowed slightly, to 3.7 per cent for company managed stores from 4.2 per cent in 2016, but Greggs has now reported 17 consecutive quarters of like-for-like growth despite seeing sales growth slow over the Christmas season.
Chief Executive Roger Whiteside announcing the results said:
“We finished 2017 well, delivering our seventeenth consecutive quarter of like-for-like sales growth, and anticipate that we will report full year results for 2017 in line with our previous expectations. In the year ahead, we will continue to focus on delivering the outstanding value and taste that Greggs is famous for. 2018 will be a record year for investment in our supply chain and we intend to increase the rate of new shop openings as we continue to grow Greggs as a leading food-on-the-go brand.”
Greggs aims to open between 110 and 130 shops on a net basis over the next year coming after it grew its shops to 1,854 in 2017, having opened 131 shops and closed 41.
