GREGGS fans have been left fuming as it axes a popular menu staple from its vegan offering.
The bakery giant has removed its Vegan Steak Bake from menus, it has confirmed to The Sun.
It comes after fans have been left devastated when they attempted to order the meat-free treat.
Posting on X, formerly known as Twitter, one said: "where has the vegan steak bake gone? Don’t do this to us."
While another exclaimed: "Oi, why you stopping the vegan steak bake!"
A third posted: "Why has the vegan steak bake disappeared again?"
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And a fourth wrote: "Have you guys stopped doing the vegan steak bake again? Been told that by one of your staff."
"Has the vegan steak bake gone again?" another asked.
But sadly the news is true. Greggs has removed the snack from its offering in a bid to expand its vegan range.
A spokesperson told The Sun: "Our Vegan Steak Bake will be taking a break from the menu to make way for a tasty vegan favourite, which will be launching next week."
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They went on to say that fans of the Vegan Steak Bake should grab them whilst stocks last.
The news won't come as too much of a surprise as the bake was only ever meant to be around for a limited time.
The vegan steak bake first launched in January 2020, as a sequel to the hugely successful vegan sausage roll which launched a year earlier.
It then was unceremoniously cut before rejoining menus earlier this year.
Fans were thrilled to learn of its return: "My steak bake was actually hot and just as beautiful as I remember."
Another wrote: "The Greggs vegan steak bake is banging."
While a third added: "Greggs bringing back the vegan steak bake my prayers have been answered."
Greggs' Vegan Steak Bake is made of Quorn mycoprotein pieces, wrapped in golden puff pastry.
It currently costs £2 and has 374 calories - but you'll need to hop to it if you want to try it one last time.
Vegans can still get their hands on a range of options though.
These include the vegan sausage roll, glazed ring doughnut, sweet potato and onion bhaji rice box, and southern fried potato wedges.
The retailer also offers a variety of vegan breakfast options, including the vegan sausage breakfast roll and hash browns.
You can find your nearest Greggs store by using the shop finder on its website.
Why do items get discontinued by retailers?
COMMENTS by Business Editor, Ashley Armstrong:
There’s nothing more frustrating than a beloved lipstick colour or a favourite snack being discontinued, but often the simple reason is that you might be in the minority thinking it's the best.
Big companies ranging from Cadbury to Coca Cola do reviews of their whole ranges at least once a year to check how certain products are performing.
Sometimes the reason they axe a product is because they are planning to bring out a new recipe, and have spent a lot of money researching and developing the new product.
Often you’ll find an old favourite replaced with something similar, such as when Cadbury scrapped its Mint Crisp but brought out mint versions of Dairy Milk.
Consumer companies often say they are reflecting “customers’ changing tastebuds” when scrapping a product, which irritates fans who still enjoy them.
Big food companies also want to prove to their shareholders that they are keeping up with consumer trends and tastes, and so if they don’t reshuffle their stable of brands from time to time they can be accused of not being agile or keeping up-to-date with what consumers want.
Food giants are also increasingly under pressure to make a bigger percentage of sales from healthy products, so are diverting more of their resources to that.
This means more money is spent on new products that might have less sugar or salt in them and they are making room in their portfolios by cutting older, less healthy products.
However, sometimes brands and products are consigned to history simply because they are not selling as well.
Food brands in particular are often owned by giant global corporations who own hundreds of different brands in different markets around the world.
This means they take a cold, hard view of a product that barely makes a dent to their balance sheet, even if the brand has a loyal legion of customers.
Making a product that only generates a tiny portion of companies’ overall sales still sucks up money and time on a factory line that could be redirected to making more of a more popular product.
OTHER GREGGS NEWS
The beloved bakery chain is planning to open six more outlet stores in the UK this year, The Sun exclusively revealed last month.
It currently has 35 shops open across the UK and hopes to have 50 by the end of 2025.
It comes as The Sun exclusively revealed a little-known Greggs pizza meal deal hack that can save shoppers cash.
Plus, Greggs boss Roisin Currie told The Sun it will have 2,500 shops in the UK by the end of this month as part of her target to achieve 3,000.
Greggs Outlet's stock some of the chain's most popular items including the much-loved sausage roll - but the prices are up to 75% cheaper.
It means you can get a four-pack of sausages rolls for £1.85, instead of £4.35, which works out at just 46p per sausage roll.
Whereas a sandwich could cost £1.22, instead of £4.50.
Prices vary across Greggs shops in the UK based on where you visit.
In January 2024, Greggs revealed plans to open 160 new branches in the next year.
The chain will also continue rolling out evening opening hours across specific stores.
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Meanwhile, one shopping expert revealed the items that you should always buy from Greggs and what you should avoid.
If you want to get first dibs on the new products, Greggs top boss also revealed which locations you should visit.
Greggs outlet stores
At the moment, the chain operates Outlets in the following locations:
- Newcastle, 403 Westgate Rd
- Leeds, 1 Hollin Pk Pde
- Birmingham, 130 Highgate St
- Sheldon, 2178 Coventry Rd
- Ward End, 638 Washwood Hth
- Barry, 58 Holton Rd
- Cardiff. 75 Grand Ave
- Redfield, 209 Church St
- South Shields, 4 Frederick
- Howdon, 18 Tynemouth Rd
- Hendon, 62 Villette Rd
- Walker, 265 Welbeck Rd
- Tipton, 162 High St
- Leicester, 237C Uppingham R
- Bradford, 45 Great Horton R
- Preston, U1 London Rd
- Nitshill, 401 Nitshill Rd
- Parkhead, 76 Westmuir St
- Deckham, 300 Old Durham Rd
- Glasgow, 1843 Maryhill Rd
- Glasgow, 126 Maryhill Rd
- Handsworth, U1, 121 Villa R
- Woolston, U4, 33 Victoria R
- Hednesford, 61 Market St
- Southampton, 453 Millbrook
- Canning Town, Hermit Road
- Sheffield, 829 Barnsley Rd
- Glasgow, 19 Saltmarket
- London, 5 Cundy Road
- Gorbals, 169 Crown St
- Rednal, 10 Arden Rd
- Oldham, 23 Henshaw Street
- Plaistow, 107 Plaistow Rd
- Edmonton, 235 Bounces Rd
- Cardiff, St Mellons
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