Greggs’ First Ever Menu What Did They Sell?
Greggs’ First Ever Menu — What Did They Sell in 1939?
From a pushbike and a basket of yeast in Newcastle to 2,759 stores and matcha lattes — we tell the whole story.
Let’s start with painting a picture. It’s 1939, wartime Britain seems unpredictable, and a young lad from Newcastle named John Gregg is pedalling his bicycle through the mining streets of Tyneside — with a basket full of eggs, yeast and fresh bread. No gleaming shop front. No sausage rolls. Absolutely zero matcha lattes. Just a bloke on a bike, making sure working-class families had the basics they needed to bake their own bread at home.
That humble delivery round is the entire origin story of what is now the UK’s biggest bakery chain. So what exactly did Greggs sell at the very start — and how wild is the contrast with the 2026 menu? Let’s dig in.
🛒 Greggs’ Original 1939 Menu — The Full Breakdown
When Greggs launched in 1939 it wasn’t a bakery shop at all. John Gregg ran a door-to-door delivery service for local mining families around Newcastle upon Tyne. His core offering was incredibly simple — three staple items that households needed to bake their own food at home:
Fun fact: John Gregg joined the family egg and yeast business at just 14 years old, making deliveries by pushbike to local homes. By the 1930s he’d upgraded to a van — which his wife kept running when he was called up during World War II.
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📅 Greggs Menu Through the Decades
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🔄 Then vs Now: 1939 Menu vs 2026 Menu Compared
| Category | 🕰 1939 Original Menu | 🚀 2026 Current Menu |
|---|---|---|
| Core Savoury | 1939Bread loaves, basic bakery goods | 2026Sausage rolls, chicken rolls, steak bakes, pasties, festive bakes, pizza slices |
| Breakfast | 1939Eggs (raw, for home cooking) | 2026Bacon rolls, sausage & egg muffins, breakfast baguettes — meal deal from £3.25 |
| Sweet Treats | 1939Confectionery (added ~1940 via wife’s van) | 2026Doughnuts, yum yums, mango & passion fruit doughnuts, vanilla slices, cookies |
| Drinks | 1939None (deliveries were ingredients only) | 2026Espresso, lattes, matcha drinks, iced teas, mango lemonade, hot chocolate |
| Plant-Based | 1939N/A | 2026Vegan sausage roll, vegan chicken-free rolls, veggie flatbreads, plant-based salads |
| Salads & Healthy | 1939N/A | 2026Chicken Caesar salad, Chicken Grains & Greens salad, pasta pots, fruit pots, porridge |
| Pizza | 1939N/A | 2026Tandoori Chicken Pizza Slice, Veggie Feast Pizza, BBQ Chicken Pizza Box |
| Delivery Method | 1939Pushbike & van, door-to-door | 20262,759 stores, Click & Collect app, Iceland supermarkets, Tesco & delivery platforms |
| Price Benchmark | 1939Affordable basics for working families | 2026Breakfast deal from £3.25; most items £1–£4 |
Source: Greggs corporate history, Wikipedia, Retail Bulletin (2026)
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🆕 What’s Brand New on the Greggs 2026 Menu?
The 2026 menu refresh is the most ambitious in years. Here’s what’s newly landed this year to much excitement:
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🎯 Our Take: From Yeast to Matcha in 87 Years
What makes Greggs’ story genuinely brilliant is that the soul hasn’t changed. John Gregg cycled through working-class streets because he wanted to give people affordable, honest food. In 2026, with a breakfast deal at £3.25 and a sausage roll under £2, that same mission is alive and kicking — just with 2,759 more stops on the route.
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❓ Frequently Asked Questions
In 1939, Greggs wasn’t a shop — it was a door-to-door delivery round. Founder John Gregg cycled through the mining terraces of Newcastle delivering fresh eggs, yeast and bread to working-class families. Confectionery was added slightly later, when his wife expanded the operation with a second van during World War II.
The first Greggs shop opened in 1951 on Gosforth High Street in Newcastle upon Tyne. The property was bought for £7,750. There is still a Greggs at that location today — though it looks a little different from the original!
No! The iconic sausage roll came much later. The original 1939 business sold only eggs, yeast and bread as delivery items. Sausage rolls, steak bakes and pasties became core menu items as Greggs expanded through the 1970s and 1980s and shifted towards an in-store hot food model.
Greggs’ 2026 menu refresh includes the Chicken Roll, Tandoori Chicken Pizza Slice, Chicken Caesar Salad, Chicken Grains & Greens Salad, iced matcha drinks, new pasta pots, and a Mango & Passion Fruit Doughnut. Like-for-like sales grew 3.3% in the most recent 10-week period on the back of these new additions.
As of 2026, Greggs operates 2,759 stores across the UK, with plans to open around 120 net new locations during the full year. The chain is even expanding internationally, with a new outlet planned at Tenerife South airport.
John Robson Gregg (1909–1964) founded Greggs in 1939. He grew up in Newcastle and joined the family egg and yeast delivery business at age 14. His goal was simple: provide quality, affordable ingredients to working-class mining families who couldn’t easily access shops. After his death in 1964, his son Ian took over and transformed the round into a full retail bakery chain.
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