Greggs is hoping to bring back its full menu but can only do so when there is enough demand, the company’s boss has said.
The Newcastle-based chain re-opened almost all of its 2,000 stores around the UK three weeks ago, but is operating on a limited menu based around its most popular items.
The firm said earlier this week that it had seen demand return to 72% of the levels it saw at this time last year, with almost the same level of staff returning from furlough.
Greggs chief executive Roger Whiteside said the limited menu had made re-opening easier, but because of the company’s centralised production processes - where one factory makes all of its supplies of a particular item - it would need increasing levels of demand before it could return to a full menu.
He said: “The range comes back when the sales come back - it’s a bit chicken and egg, really.
“We’re anticipating that demand will return, but our products are made in shift quantities. We need to get a shift’s worth of demand to warrant resuming production.
“We’ve got a plan that if sales keep ticking up, we can add more of the range, but we’ll have to wait and see.”
Mr Whiteside added that Greggs had furloughed its team that works on new products and there would be no new launches this year.
The company had previously said it was working on vegan versions of all of its best sellers after the success of the vegan sausage roll and the vegan steak bake.
