10 ways Greggs quietly makes the world a better place

You know us for our amazing Sausage Rolls but there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes.

In 2021 we launched our very own Greggs Pledge, which is our way of doing more to help people, to protect the planet, and to work with partners to change the world for the better. It’s our duty as a modern business to stand for more than just profit.

Breakfast Clubs

Way back in 1999, we launched our Breakfast Club programme, which provides a free breakfast to children who need it most. We thought that giving children a good start to their day will give them a good start in life.

Today there are 600 Breakfast Clubs across the UK, serving wholesome, free breakfasts to around 39,000 children every school day - that's 7.6 million meals each year.

By 2025, we want to support 1,000 school Breakfast Clubs, so we can provide around 70,000 meals each school day. We recently launched an option to add 25p to your bill, so you can buy one of these breakfasts for a child in need.

Greggs is set for a Carbon Neutral future

Here at Greggs we can proudly say that 96% of the electricity we use is from renewable sources, so we’re definitely on target for full carbon neutrality across the business.

During 2021, we will complete the mapping of our whole carbon footprint, enabling us to set Science Based Targets and plot our pathway to net zero by 2025 - so, watch this space.

Our work with BBC Children in Need

This year we’re celebrating our 15th year of partnering with BBC Children in Need, and in that time, we’ve raised over £10.6 million for the charity.

We’re immensely proud of our colleagues, as they really get hands on with a whole host of weird and wonderful activities to raise money - while having plenty of fun along the way!

We also offer customers the chance to sink their teeth into Pudsey and Blush ring buns, Pudsey shortbread and Blush gingerbread. There couldn’t be a tastier way to fundraise.

We help feed communities in need

Food poverty is a huge issue for millions of people within the UK.

We want to help, which is why we currently have 13 Greggs Outlet shops around the UK where day-old food products are sold at a big reduction, helping those in need to spend less on food. We donate a share of our profits from these shops to our Greggs Foundation charity, which passes on to local community groups that are working to address food poverty and associated problems.

By 2025, we intend to increase the number of Outlet shops to 50.

Children’s Cancer Run

We have supported the Children’s Cancer Run since it launched 38 years ago and have raised over £30m to fund research into improving recovery rates of children with cancer. We love our communities and are proud to be able to give back to them.

Roger Whiteside, our Chief Executive, said: "Greggs is immensely proud to support the Children's Cancer Run and the work of the NECCR for another year. Greggs has been involved with the run since the very beginning and it has been incredible to see first-hand the hugely positive impact that the funds raised has on the lives of children affected by cancer."

We embrace diversity

Our workforce should reflect the communities we serve.

We're pretty proud of our reputation as a good employer, but we're not complacent and recognise that there’s always more that we can do, particularly in the area of diversity. We want everyone to feel welcomed at Greggs and our colleagues to be themselves at work, whatever their background, preferences, or views. We also want to make sure there are no barriers that might stop anyone from forging a successful career with us.

Like most jobs, it is the people that make it. So, we are incredibly proud to have been named one of the happiest places to work in the UK – and we strive to keep that title.

We take animal welfare seriously

Animal welfare is a priority for us. We exclusively use free-range eggs and we only use suppliers who adhere to the highest animal welfare regulations with consideration of the Farm Animal Welfare Committee's 'Five Freedoms'.

We participate in the annual Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare (BBFAW) and to help keep our rules regulated we are currently stepping up our efforts in the areas of management commitment, policy, governance and performance monitoring.

Greggs Foundation

The Greggs Foundation is a charity that was created to offer grants to help build stronger, healthier communities in the areas where we operate. The intention is to address issues of poverty and inequality, ensuring food is at the heart of communities and support local community organisations to make a real difference.

The Greggs Foundation distributes over £3 million per year to charitable organisations throughout England, Scotland and Wales.

Committed to customer health

As part of The Greggs Pledge, we’ve committed that by 2025, 30% of the items on our shelves will be healthier choices and we will attract customers through education and promotions.

We engaged with Diabetes UK, and they highlighted Greggs as an example of good practice on their Food Upfront Pledge, a campaign for clearer food labelling; As we provide traffic light labelling, calorie, and nutritional information on our products either on shelf, or through our website and mobile app.

Our colleagues volunteer to causes that are close to our hearts

We don’t just fundraise, every year we encourage everyone in our management team to volunteer with a charity or community group for the day. We know our people are incredibly generous, fun and friendly but they also have some fantastic skills we want others to be able to benefit from too. And of course, our teams learn a lot from it!

We hope you’ve learnt a lot about what goes on behind the scenes at Greggs.