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Iced drinks and a bigger range of salads has helped Greggs boost sales in the heatwave and reel in health-conscious consumers, as it continues its expansion across the UK.

The bakery chain revealed that total sales topped £1.1 billion for the 26 weeks to June 27, which was 7.2% higher than the same period a year ago.

This was largely driven by the opening of 34 shops on a net basis.

Stripping out the impact of the new shops, sales at company-managed shops were 2.1% higher compared with the same ones last year, and 1.3% higher at franchised shops.

The retailer’s pre-tax profit jumped by a fifth to £76 million for the half-year period.

Greggs said that innovating its menu to follow consumer food trends helped attract new customers, including products such as iced matcha lattes and the chicken roll launched in April as an alternative to the sausage and vegan rolls.

The bakery chain has also been expanding its range of salads with new and reformulated recipes designed to have more protein, and ensuring labelling has clearer nutritional information, in a bid to tap into a growing cohort of health-conscious consumers.

It had 2,773 shops at the end of June and is expecting to have opened 100 to 110 on a net basis throughout 2026, many of which are in new locations with no Greggs shop within a mile.

It is also expecting to trial 10 Greggs Express convenience shops which will be a self-service format with a smaller range of products.

Chief executive Roisin Currie said: “We remain focused on opening shops in more catchments and introducing convenient ways for customers to pick up Greggs favourites, while broadening and innovating our menu in line with changing tastes and trends.”