How Greggs could eat up the evening meal competition

Having overtaken McDonald’s to become the top breakfast destination this year, Greggs now has its eye on a new occasion: the evening meal.

It may seem a stretch for a chain best known for its grab-and-go breakfast and lunches – occasions well served by its sausage rolls, affordable coffees and pastries. But for CEO Roisin Currie, winner of The Grocer Cup, there is a clear opportunity at play.

Greggs’ evening sales are “growing faster” than any other occasion, Currie told The Grocer last week. “We are very focused on evening trading at the moment because we believe this is a really profitable part of the business long term,” she said.

“We are here to offer a breadth of range to our consumer, from cold and hot sandwiches to chicken, wedges, pizza, bakes and salads, that make us able to compete with any place [on the high street].”

It’s certainly competing on pizza. This year, Greggs introduced a deal offering a pizza slice and drink for £2.85, or a four-slice sharer for £6.50 – undercutting its rivals by some way. Already, it’s proving popular at dinnertime.

“Pizza is very important for us when competing with the food-to-go market as a whole,” says Currie.

It’s part of an overarching aim for Greggs to be the first outlet that catches the customer’s eye, whether they are on their way to the office in the morning or a social event in the evening.

That goal will be supported by growth in the Greggs estate. As part of its long-term target to reach 3,000 stores, the bakery chain will open between 140 and 160 new sites this year – all of which will be set up for evening trading. Crucially, these will be located next to train and tube stations, airports, retail parks, and popular commuter routes.

“We’re opening in those catchments where evening works particularly well – places where the customer is still on the go at least until 7pm, or for travel locations such as airports reaching as far as midnight, or 24 hours.”

That flexibility on opening hours is a strategy that won the retailer the breakfast segment earlier this year. “If a [Greggs] was open and busy at 7am, the shop would open at 6.30am,” Currie highlights. “The same way, if a shop is still busy at 7pm and there is trade around that shop, we will stretch their hours to 7.30pm.”

But the evening occasion isn’t just about passer-by traffic. In suburban and residential areas, Greggs considers partners such as Just Eat and Uber Eats – who have have contributed to its expansion – a “critical area” for evening sales.

So what may sound like an afterthought comes across as a well thought-out strategy. Considering it has already usurped McDonald’s in the breakfast occasion, Greggs could just be a credible contender for the evening meal, too. Watch out, Domino’s.