Sales of traditional pies such as steak and kidney are crashing as youngsters opt for healthier snacks

YOUNGSTERS are snubbing traditional pies such as steak and kidney, sending sales crashing, industry figures show.

Instead they are switching to healthier snacks thanks to a rise in vegetarianism, veganism and other lifestyle fads.

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Supermarkets have sold the equivalent of 42million fewer pies this year than they did last year.

The total amount spent on the sector has actually gone up 9.7 per cent to £1.8billion.

But that is because of increased prices linked to soaring food inflation, energy costs and other outgoings rather than greater volume, analysts told The Grocer.

The industry magazine reported: “Pies and savoury pastries have a problem. People who eat them are dying off. Not through any fault of the products or the companies that make them, of course.

“The reason is pastries are largely preferred by older consumers.

“Classics like beef and onion slices and steak and kidney pies just don’t seem to do it for younger people.”

To try to combat the decline, producers are coming up with increasingly wacky flavours to appeal to modern tastes.

They include meat substitutes such as Mexican beans, all-day breakfast versions, a pizza pie and even a doner kebab and curry variants.

But there is one bright note for traditional tastes, with sausage rolls bucking the trend.

Sales of those were up by 7.5 per cent in volume over the past year.

That is the equivalent of 5.6million extra packs, according to analysts at Kantar for the magazine.

This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk