How shoplifters steal Greggs sausage rolls and doughnuts then sell them for 50p a pop on crime-ridden high streets black market
Greggs staff say desperate shoplifters have set up a black market for sausage rolls and doughnuts and sell them for 50p a pop on one crime ridden high street.
Greggs staff say desperate shoplifters have set up a black market for sausage rolls and doughnuts and sell them for 50p a pop on one crime ridden high street.
Guards at two Croydon outlets say they are regularly raided by thieves either down on their luck or high on drugs and looking to make quick cash.
Supplies of stolen sausage rolls, sandwiches and doughnuts are then flogged to passers by in the rundown North End district of the crime-ridden south London town.
It comes as the bakery announced earlier this year an increase the price of its iconic sausage rolls and other treats in a sneaky change to cover higher wages for staff.
Last night a source at Greggs said: This area is very dangerous in terms of shoplifting.
A former serviceman was hired as a bouncer at Greggs earlier this year to protect against shoplifters
Footage shows shoplifter wiping the shelves clear at a Greggs store in London as fellow customers were stunned into silence by his brazen act
The shoplifters come and take everything from every shop. If we try and stop them, they want to fight us.
We have the two types of shoplifters those who are genuinely hungry or in need and drug addicts looking to make quick cash.
They steal our sausage rolls and sell them to people passing by on the street outside.
It is a big black market. Croydon is heaven for shoplifters.
At our other store in West Croydon they wait for the security guard to go on a break before running in and stealing everything.
The police come but it is too late by the time they get there.
A guard on duty at the companys flagship Leicester Square store is reportedly a former member of the world renowned Gurkha regiment, according to LBC.
The Greggs source added: They sell stuff for as little as 50p. We sell four sausage rolls for £3 – then they sell them outside for £2.
If they steal six packs and sell them for £2 each, they make £12.
They dont take one or two, they take five, six or seven.
Chief executive, Roisin Currie, revealed in July that Greggs has increased the prices of some items on its menu by 5p and 10p.
In 2021, a sausage roll cost just £1. But at the start of 2022 the price rose to £1.05, then £1.10 in May 2022, £1.15 in October 2022 and 1.20 by January 2023.
A MailOnline graphic showing the increase in price of Greggs sausage rolls from 2021 to 2023
A shoplifter empties the shelves of a Greggs store in south east London into a giant holdall back in June
Chief executive, Roisin Currie, revealed in July that Greggs has increased the prices of some items on its menu by 5p and 10p in recent weeks.
Ms Currie said the group took action to offset higher pay for its 32,000-strong workforce, having raised salaries earlier this year ahead of the increase in the National Living Wage.
And the now Greggs face the problem of a black market being set up for baked goods in a time Britains shoplifting crisis is even worse than official figures suggest.
Almost 444,000 crimes were recorded by forces in England and Wales in the year to March, up from 342,428 in the previous 12 months. This is the highest figure since records began in 2003, according to the Office for National Statistics.
But industry figures say underreporting means shoplifting is even more endemic than currently thought, with many store owners not bothering to report offences to overwhelmed police and criminal gangs operating without any fear of being caught.
Last year it was reported a bank branch just yards from the same Greggs outlet we spoke to was forced to shut early due to knife-wielding yobs.
Halifax made the move because employees said they were too afraid to go home in the dark.
The plan was in place just 100 yards from where Elianne Andam, 15, was stabbed to death last month on her way to school.
Almost 444,000 shoplifting offences were recorded by forces in England and Wales in the year to March, up from 342,428 in the previous 12 months
Hassan Sentamu, 18, has pleaded not guilty to her murder and will go on trial in November.
In November it was also reported Greggs was removing its doughnuts from display boxes and putting them behind the till to stop thieves pinching them.
Customers only got their hands on the treats and cakes after paying at the bakerys East Ham store in East London.
It comes after a North London store recently locked its drinks fridges after a spate of thefts.
Graham Wynn, the assistant director of business and regulation at the British Retail Consortium (BRC), said £1.8bn a year was lost to shop theft.
He added: Shoplifting is not a victimless crime.
Retailers are forced to spend £1.2bn a year on anti-crime measures such as CCTV, security personnel, and anti-theft devices.
Greggs has more than 2,400 stores across the UK and has grown into a £3billion empire with bold promises to build a Greggs in every town in Britain, but it started out in 1939 as a humble bread delivery service for mining families in Newcastle.
The first official Greggs store opened in Gosforth, Newcastle in 1951.
And just last month, MailOnline asked our readers which high street bakery chain they preferred - Greggs or Gails?
This comes following a mid a recent revolt against Gails - with critics suggesting the bakery opening a new outlet is a sure-fire indicator the area is being gentrified amid fears it could put independent eateries out of business.
Greggs secured a landslide victory coming out on top as the nations sausage roll sweetheart, with 72 per cent of readers voting for it as their favourite while Gails received a mere 28 per cent of votes.
Gails was founded in 2005 with the first opening on north Londons upmarket Hampstead High Street and has been dubbed the middle-class Greggs.
Last year, Gails chairman called for a crackdown on aggressive shoplifters and abusive customers.
Mr Johnson, ex-chairman of Pizza Express, said prosecutions were the only way to tackle the problem. ‘This trend towards widespread, really widespread aggression, abuse and shoplifting is a new and scary phenomenon,’ he added.
Greggs head office and the Met Police were contacted for comment.
