As a modern business, it is our duty to stand for more than just profit…We’re dedicated to helping people, protecting the planet and working together – Greggs.
Greggs is a national UK bakery retail business that had, in 2023, a £188.3 million pre-tax profit and a valuation of £3bn. It was founded in 1939 in Gosforth, a suburb of Newcastle in the north-east of England, by John Gregg, who used to deliver bread and eggs on his bicycle to the working class residents of low-cost council (public) housing in the region. It now has some 2400 bakery shops and has plans to open a further 160 stores in 2024, despite the difficult trading conditions facing retailing in the UK.
That first shop catered for the poorer sectors of the community and rather than waste unsold food, it would sell day old bread and pastries at half price. The business grew rapidly. By 1983, it had 300 stores and in 1984, it was listed on the London stock exchange. Even so, it retained its social purpose and, as the management has observed, they continued “to do the right thing by our people, our suppliers and our communities”. In 2021, however, the company took this mission a step further when it launched its sustainability strategy “The Greggs Pledge”. This recognised that they employ thousands of people, deal with hundreds of suppliers and serve millions of customers so the way they operate affects a large number of people. Accordingly, having reflected on what they could do to have the greatest impact, they decided to focus on building stronger, healthier communities, making the planet safer and being a better business. To this end, they introduced 6 projects, namely:-
1 Greggs Foundation Breakfast Clubs
Started in 1999, by 2022 they were operating 900 clubs and providing some 62, 000 children with a free breakfast. Each club costs £3000 to set up and run for a year and Greggs makes funds available to help with startup costs for cooking equipment and cold storage. Each Club has access to the company’s £1million+ hardship fund, that supports children and families with food and clothing vouchers as well as household furniture and appliances. Also, in partnership with “Rethink Food”, they deliver one million hours of education into schools. In total, they have 140 business partners who provide sponsorship for the clubs and by 2025, they intend to be serving some 70,000 children.
2 Food Waste
Conscious of the contribution of food waste to global warming, the company has a food forecasting system to keep food waste to a minimum, but any unsold food is either donated to charity partners or food banks to help feed those in need, while they also partner with “Too Good to Go”, which supplies a “Magic Bag” containing £8.00 of food for £2.59. As a consequence, none of their food goes to landfill and they have committed to reducing, by 2025, their 2018 level of food waste by 25 per cent.
3 Retail Outlets
Apart from their retail shops that sell freshly baked products, they have opened “Greggs Outlet Shops” in the tradition of the original business in some of the poorest communities in the country. These sell heavily discounted day-old unsold food to those families hardest hit by food poverty and/or deprivation. A proportion of the profits of these Outlets is returned to the Community via the Greggs Foundation to support other local organisations that are tackling food poverty. By 2025, they plan to have 50 such Outlets.
4 Healthier Choices
Apart from reducing the amounts of salt, fat and sugar in their products, they have increased their vegetable content to help their customers eat the 5 vegetables a day recommended by the World Health Organisation. Also, they have diversified their range to include fruit pots, salads, sandwiches, and soups By 2025, they expect that 30 percent of the products they sell will be healthier choices.
5 Packaging
While packaging is necessary to keep their goods fresh and edible, they have pledged to reduce its use by 2025 to 75 per cent of its 2019 level by only using it when it is absolutely necessary and by using the most sustainable materials. They have stopped using plastics, have reduced the thickness of any cardboard that they use, and only use recycled materials.
6 Animal welfare
To ensure the animals in their supply chain are treated with respect, they have introduced the “Greggs Farm Animal Welfare Standards.” This ensures the animals are provided with fresh food and water, have shelter, are protected from pain, injury, disease, or distress and are free to behave normally. Their suppliers must at least meet these standards and they only partner with suppliers who share their values.
While acknowledging that trading in 2022 and 2023 had been difficult, the company’s Chief Executive, Roisin Currie, announced in March 2024 that the company had had record sales and had overtaken McDonalds as the UK’s No. 1 takeaway breakfast seller. Accordingly, 25,000 of the company’s 32,000 employees would share a £17.6 million bonus. As one female employee is reported to have said, “we get a bonus every year, but this one is brilliant; the staff were really happy and so pleased about it…It’s a really nice thank you from the company and a nice way to make the staff feel valued”. For its part, Greggs’ management believes that it is their people that enable the company to be successful. Not only do they recognise this, but their aim is to make the company a great place in which to work, where the staff feel valued and able to fulfil their potential.
Greggs is a highly profitable harmonious enterprise that demonstrates that caring for the planet and its inhabitants need not negatively impact the success of the venture, as is so often claimed. In so doing it addresses SDGs 1 (No Poverty), 2 (Zero Hunger), 3 (Good Health and Well-being), 4 (Quality Education), 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), 10 (Reduced Inequalities), 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), 13 (Climate Action) and 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).
References
Bromovsky, L. (2024), Exclusive Thank You Greggs! Daily Mail. 6th March.
Kollewe, J., and Butler, S. (2024), Greggs staff to share £17.6 m bonus as chain overtakes McDonald’s to become UK’s top breakfast take-out. The Guardian.5th March.
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