The battle of the flaky pastry has kicked off as Poundland goes to war with Greggs with a cheaper sausage roll.
The budget chain, best known for cut-price toiletries and homewares, has been recently expanding in fresh and frozen food to help shoppers during the cost of living crisis.
1
It has recently launched its “Poundbakery” in 10 of its stores which sell pasties, sausage rolls and other bakery items for £1.
Poundland’s sausage rolls cost £1 for two, which could win over Greggs customers who were outraged that the bakery chain has hiked the price in the past year.
The price of Greggs’ most popular product has risen from £1 a year ago to now cost £1.20 for a single sausage roll.
Five years ago it cost less than a quid.
Greggs bosses have blamed the price increases on the rising costs of ingredients and labour in the processing process.
Roisin Currie, chief executive, said in March she had no plans to increase prices further this year. Although since then food inflation has only increased.
Poundland said that initial customer reaction “has been very encouraging and we’re looking closely at how we can bring our bakery offer to more stores in the future”.
Poundland has 850 stores across the UK and is planning to open or relocate around 50 shops this year, creating up to 800 new jobs.
Most read in Money
Taste test
The Sun’s Georgina Findlay put the two sausage rolls to the test – can the bargain shop beat the bakery chain?
Poundland
£1 for two sausage rolls.
- Flakiness: 4/5
- Meat: 2/5
- Overall taste: 2.5/5
Tearing open Poundland’s twin pack of sausage rolls releases a strong buttery aroma.
The pastry falls apart as soon as you touch it, making this a pretty messy snack.
The pastry is thick, crust-like and bland, although the upper layers do flake off nicely.
The underside of the roll has a texture like cardboard and there’s lots of empty space inside.
While the meat has a pleasant gentle flavour, it could be much saltier and more herby.
Overall, it’s a bit like a bland chipolata wearing a greasy puffer jacket, but is a cheap and cheerful treat nevertheless.
Greggs
£1.20 per sausage roll.
- Flakiness: 4/5
- Meat: 5/5
- Overall taste: 4/5
The Greggs sausage roll measures in at about 2cm longer and 1cm wider than the Pound Bakery product – but it’s also more than twice the cost.
However, the pastry is more uniform throughout, and it holds together well.
It’s also thinner and has a nice light flake to it.
The meat is saltier and spicier than Poundland’s, contrasting better with the buttery crust.
Finally, the shiny glaze makes this option more appealing to the eye, and with its iconic herby flavour, it still deserves its status as Britain’s favourite sausage roll.
