ICONIC bakery Greggs is a Brit’s go-to for all things pastry – but do you know all the secrets of our cherished stores?
We spend hard-earned cash on those delicious sausage rolls and, to keep us coming back for more, a former worker has spilled the beans on all the perks.
Artist Lauren-Eden Sullivan, 23, spent four years behind the counter at Greggs in Bournemouth and central London.
Here, she gives Fabulous the inside scoop on our favourite snack shop and the hack to get 75 percent off your sausage rolls.
“Working at Greggs was incredible,” she gushes. “Staff get a 50 percent off discount card and if you work there for a year, you get a second one for your family.
“I became a Greggs addict and stopped off at any shop I saw for a bacon and cheese wrap – I must’ve eaten 15 pastries a week.
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“Whenever I was on shift I’d pick up lunch from the counter and if a nice manager was working, I’d get it all for free. I saved a fortune,” she adds.
Most of us opt for a simple sausage roll and a cheeky doughnut, but Lauren’s experienced some seriously weird orders.
“The most popular item in Scotland is a pasty sandwich,” she reveals. “Customers order a melt and stick it in a bread roll. Strange, but apparently delicious.”
But there’s one item on the menu that everyone avoids like the plague.
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“We were always left with a whole tray of corned beef bakes at the end of the day,” claims Lauren. “They’re like Marmite – some people love them, but I think most hate them with a passion. They’re so unpopular you barely see them anymore.”
We shoppers only see what’s in front of the counter, but behind the tills there’s a whole host of surprises we never knew about – including dedicated bread butterers.
“Some staff do nothing but make sandwiches for eight hours a day and you’ll never see them at the front of the store,” she reveals.
It seems once you’re a Greggs worker, you’re always a Greggs worker. Lauren left the Bournemouth branch years ago, but she still bags a free sausage roll from her friendly manager to help save some cash.
And on the subject of sausage rolls, there’s a surprising misconception about Greggs’ famous pastry which really grinds staffs’ gears.
“Everyone assumes that the pastries will be hot but Greggs has never advertised that – it’s false,” she reveals. “They’re freshly baked, but legally they can’t be reheated because customers might get food poisoning.
“Remember, they’re not making sausage rolls from scratch. They come in frozen to be heated up in the oven so they’ll give you a hot one, but you’ll have to wait 15 minutes for it to cook.”
Finally, Lauren reveals the epic hack to get all your favourite Greggs items for pennies instead of pounds.
“You have to check out the Greggs outlet stores,” she insists. “There’s about 30 dotted around the country and there could be 50 by 2025.
“The outlets were made to offer cheap food to socially deprived areas, but they’ve turned into a top attraction.”
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Each day, Greggs branches pack up their unsold food items and ship them to the outlet stores to sell the next day for up to 75 percent off.
“The Greggs factories send misshapen food there too – it massively cuts down food waste and people can’t resist the bargains,” she claims. “Barely anything goes in the bin and it’s just as delicious.”
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