To think the bakes in Greggs etc should be warm/hot?

[BobbyBiscuits]

I had not been to Greggs for many years till today, but maybe I missed something. There are cabinets that look like heated ones with the pastries etc. But they are not heated and the blimming thing was cold, like a stodgy rock. I can't imagine running a pasty shop that didn't heat them up. They won't even put it back in the oven...In a microwave is not an option. I'm traumatised. In Sains the pasties are in a hot cabinet?

AIBU or are all shops that sell this stuff like that?
Or this Greggs just blows cos it's in a really shitty area/ I'm a twat and should shut the front door..lol

I'd forgotten about this tax. I don't go to Gregg's or anywhere else but I do remember the tax and wandering around Newquay with the biggest, hottest, most delicious pastie ever.

I think I actually put on the weight of the pastie immediately. Kerrchunk said the scales.
Not surprised said I. Giving them a pat.

It was actually introduced by Nigel Lawson in the 1980s. Larger firms such as Greg's found a loophole to avoid VAT that small independent bakeries couldn't get around and it wasn't until George Osborne closed the loophole in 2012 then it all changed. Big chains like Greggs made the press by throwing a tantrum that their loophole had been closed so they chose to get rid of all their hot hold cabinets and went down the route of bake and then sell within 2 hours. That's why the savoury is often cold.

YABU for being in the same shop as this sludge.

Do you know what, it's my daughter's first birthday this weekend and I think maybe I will take her to Swanpool, and throw a pebble in the sea for you. I didn't know they did hedgehogs down there - we've always got ours from Chapel Porth.

Happy birthday to your daughter for Saturday! May the sun shine upon her face.

You know what though, its like the more recent sugar tax - brands throwing up their hands as if to say "Well, we have NO CHOICE but to make our products absolutely disgusting thanks to this government interference!" YES YOU DO! Just stick the 20% on! I'd far rather have a hot pasty and a can of coke with actual sugar in! And the warm sense of wellbeing from paying my taxes...

I’ve never had a Greggs sausage roll that wasn’t warm, and often they’re piping hot. Here’s my advice: forget all this steak bake nonsense, get a sausage roll; use a busy Greggs so there’s a quick turnover.

@TotHappy

SMUG BITCH

🤣

I only have a Greggs and their barely tepid bakes. They only do cheese & onion bakes or some vegan monstrosities. I USED to like their veggie bakes, but our branch doesn't do them. I swear they only do about 3 c&o ones about 3am as they're never warm no matter what time I go in. It's better for me, as I just have a coffee.

surely though, if people eat meat there's always a hot one of one kind or another.

Took a while and only one ...... impressive!

Other people eating Greggs clearly doesn't upset people as much as Maccas!

Well I learnt something new today, like you OP not a frequent flyer in Greggs but did wonder why stuff I've bought is cold!

I don't like the food at greggs but I agree it's known the cabinet isn't hot. Which I also agree makes it more grim! It's one of those things I just assumed other people (mostly) didn't care about as it's so popular.

Same at most pasty shops too, and they are double the price! I had one recently that was at best like warm and it wasn't greggs prices, shop assistant said they don't keep them warm.

It was actually introduced by Nigel Lawson in the 1980s. Larger firms such as Greg's found a loophole to avoid VAT that small independent bakeries couldn't get around and it wasn't until George Osborne closed the loophole in 2012 then it all changed. Big chains like Greggs made the press by throwing a tantrum that their loophole had been closed so they chose to get rid of all their hot hold cabinets and went down the route of bake and then sell within 2 hours. That's why the savoury is often cold.

Every day's a school day on MN! I didn't know any of this!

I though the cabinets kept them hot. I don't have anything out of there often, and if i do it's always a sausage roll and i've always had to queue so it's always been hot.

If i was given a cold sausage roll in a bag i'd be highly put out! I'll always ask if they're warm in future.

I was caught out at a service station recently. Brought a slice of pizza and they gave it to me cold. When I queried thus, they directed me to the customer microwave.

I didn’t know they weren’t sold hot!
I used to get a cheese and onion one every day on my way to work (20 years ago when I was 18/19 and that pasty was pretty much the only food I would eat in a day, topping myself up with fags booze and the occasional packet of quavers and was a size 6 😂) and it was always a hot breakfast.
I don’t think I’ve eaten a Greggs ever since and I won’t now that I know about cold pasties. What a swizz!

I can’t stomach a cold bake, they’re gopping. The pizza slices are nice even if cold. And the sausage rolls.

You often see Greggs available on the "too good to go" app so they're not just binned any more.

As an aside I prefer pies, sausage rolls and pasties cold. I'm aware I'm probably in the minority here 😁

I think you are missing the point of Greggs and similar shops.

Yeah I always ask if they're warm, if not I'll ask what's coming out next and wait around 😆

If the pasties are already cold, their sandwiches are pretty tasty. My favourite are the Mexican chicken ovals. They also have a selection of paninis that can be heated up so I guess you pay tax on those (thanks for the lesson MN).

If you get a steak bake or chicken bake they are pretty much always warm as there is a high turn over. As a veggie I get a vegan Sausage roll or a cheese and onion pasty and they are almost always stone cold. I do sometimes buy them to take home and reheat as I find the gregg's pasties are are nicer than most of the ones you can buy in the supermarkets.

Yes the pizza slices are my go to as they're the only thing I'm happy to have cold!

Does anyone remember the old pizzas on the baguettes?? Amazing, and like 70p or something when I was at college... 17 years ago !!

I worked at Greggs for 15 years. As people have said above it's the pasty tax. It also depends a bit on the time of day and the popularity of the bake. So when we were open for 7am we would bake little and often but even if we knew we weren't going to sell a corned beef pasty we had to cook one for availability. So after an hour someone would no doubt buy it a whinge that it was cold. Generally we'd warn people and say it's not very warm as no one likes being shouted at about a cold pasty! We also can't say anything it 'hot' because we are not selling 'hot' pasties that would mean adding vat. So we had to say 'freshly baked'. I left about 18 months ago and we had been doing too good to go for at least a year before I left so no more wasted pasties.
It probably varied shop to shop but I loved working at Greggs everyone was so lovely and it was a really nice company to work for.

It shows the power of PR and public perception. The "Pasty tax" the Government wanted to impose was actually a closure of the loophole that Gregg's are using, and VAT would be charged on everything baked on premises even if it was hot still or had gone cold.

It was scrapped after companies like Greggs labelled it a "pasty tax" and told the public the evil government wanted to charge them tax on their baked goods. All greggs wanted to do was keep the argument that they can't keep them warm because of the government and didn't want to pay out for heated cabinets and the cost to run them.

Hot food incurs a VAT charge. You will pay more for the items in the hot cabinet. Best time to go in for a hot pasty is peak times when they are baking constantly. You are more likely to get a hot one. Mid afternoon when trade is slow is when the bakes will have cooled down. They are not allowed to reheat them but some staff do if its quiet and nobody around 😉