A Greggs store in Cardiff was left unable to sell any vegan sausage rolls on the day the new menu item launched because staff didn't have the right equipment to pick them up.
The shop on Cowbridge Road East, Canton, couldn't serve the new product on Thursday, January 3, because they weren't given the correct tongs to serve them with.
One customer went into the branch of Greggs hoping to buy one of the new vegan snacks but was told he couldn't.
Brett Stoyle, who lives in Canton, said: "They were very lovely and apologetic, explaining they couldn’t serve them because they didn’t have specific tongs.
"It avoids cross contamination for anyone with severe allergies."
Greggs launches new vegan sausage roll
The bakers sell 1.5million sausage rolls each week, and hope the new vegan versions will entice the UK's 3.5million vegans into trying the animal-free version.
The Greggs vegan sausage roll has been designed to mirror some of the sausage roll’s classic features, including 96 layers of light and crisp puff pastry, but is made with a Quorn filling and priced at £1.
Brett, 31, added that they weren't on display in the Greggs shop, even though they had arrived in store.
"I haven’t been to a Greggs in about 10 years, but it’s pretty good service."
Another customer went into the same shop expecting to sample the bakers' new vegan snack but was also left disappointed.
They took to Facebook to say that there were "80 sausage rolls in Canton Greggs... but they can't serve them as they don't have a pair of different coloured tongs."
However, the Canton store is serving the new product today (Friday), according to Brett, who said: "They were really well stocked."
A spokesperson for Greggs said: "Our shop teams have been advised to follow a number of procedures to minimise the risk of cross contamination, which includes using colour-coded, separate tongs.
"Unfortunately, a small number of our shops did not receive their tongs in time for vegan sausage roll launch day, but we are working hard to get the tongs to them as soon as possible.”
News of the new menu item didn't go down well with everybody , with the news being welcomed by scores of vegans and vegetarians but met with a mixture of confusion and fury by many meat-eaters. You can read about that here .
You can also read our review of the vegan sausage roll - and how it compares to the meat version - here .
