Better business
We pledge to increase the diversity of our workforce, and to use our purchasing power responsibly, with the aim of making things better in our supply chain.
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Continuing to raise our game
The corporate world can be a powerful force for good when it is guided by a moral compass.
We have always strived to be a good corporate citizen and to treat everyone – our employees, suppliers, partners, and customers – with fairness, consideration, and respect.
As well as continuing to support our communities by paying our taxes and providing thousands of fairly-paid jobs, we are redoubling our efforts to make Greggs a great place to work. We want to be an inclusive employer that our colleagues recommend to their friends.
We’re also setting high standards for what we purchase, with the aim of making things better in our supply chain and working collaboratively with our suppliers, so they raise their game too.
Greggs is a great place to work
We know that our people are our most valuable asset, so we make sure that our colleagues are paid fairly, treated well, and given the training and opportunities they deserve. We believe all our people should share in our success every year, 10% of our profits are shared among our colleagues.
We are embracing diversity
We pride ourselves on our culture, creating an environment which is inclusive of everyone and recognise that difference is good. We want all of our colleagues to feel welcome and able to be themselves at work, whatever their background, preferences, or beliefs.
We source sustainably
We believe in doing business in a way that helps to make both our planet and our communities safer and better. That means having sound social, ethical, and environmental practices and choosing suppliers who share our values.
We care about protecting animal welfare
Farm Animal Welfare is a priority for Greggs: avoiding the abuse or exploitation of animals is consistent with our values as an ethical business. This includes all livestock and seafood species reared or caught for supply to us. We’re working in partnership with our suppliers to continue to raise standards over time.
The Greggs Pledge
Download our 2023 progress report
In 2021, we launched The Greggs Pledge, setting out ten commitments to help make the world a better place. Read more about our progress in our latest report, published April 2024.
Making sure Greggs is a great place to work
At Greggs, we pride ourselves on our culture, creating an environment which is inclusive.
We want everyone to to feel welcome and to be able to be themselves at work, whatever their background, preferences or beliefs. We recognise that difference is good.
We understand that diversity makes our business stronger, it makes us a more welcoming place. If our colleagues are representatives of the communities Greggs serve, we can better understand our customers and make sure they have a great experience when they shop with us.
We don't believe it's enough just to say we're a company for everyone, we like to show it too.
We reward our colleagues and have a great package of benefits
We pay everyone more than the National Living Wage – not just those over the age of 25. Every year, we share ten per cent of our profits with employees.
All well as a company-contributory pension scheme and access to childcare vouchers, we have two share schemes that give our people an opportunity to own part of the business. The Greggs Share Incentive Plan (SIP) lets people reinvest their profit share into Greggs shares, and our annual Save-As-You-Earn (SAYE) share plan allows them to buy Greggs shares at a discount.
Everyone who works for us can take advantage of a range of local and national discounts on everything from gym membership and car insurance to mobile phone contracts and restaurant offers. They can also participate in the Cycle2Work scheme, a salary sacrifice initiative that lets them hire a bike from us to help them get to work.
And our people also get a 50% discount on Greggs-brand products in our shops.
We are an inclusive employer
A major part of The Greggs Pledge is to ensure that our workforce reflects the communities we serve. That means making our workplaces welcoming to everyone, regardless of gender, ethnicity, sexuality or disability.
We invest in training and developing our people
In addition to our operational training programmes (on-the-job, task-specific training), we run ‘espresso’ training sessions to build knowledge, skills, and behaviours. These interactive 90-minute sessions are designed to kick-start learning – participants are then directed to other learning tools if they want to take it to the next level.
Our internal training and development programmes are first class, and if growing a career within Greggs is something our colleagues like to do, we’ll support them every step of the way, helping them be prepared for internal opportunities, whether they’re within retail, manufacturing and logistics or management and support.
If you'd like to learn what it is like to work for us visit careers.greggs.co.uk
Embracing diversity
We want our colleagues to feel welcome and able to be themselves at work, whatever their background, preferences, or beliefs.
At Greggs, we pride ourselves on our culture, and on creating an environment which is inclusive of everyone. We recognise that difference is good. Not only does greater diversity make our business stronger, it makes us a more welcoming place. And if our colleagues are representative of the communities we serve, we can better understand our customers and make sure they have a great experience when they visit us.
Pledge 8
By 2025, our workforce will reflect the communities we serve.
National Equality Standard
In May 2022, we were proud to be awarded the National Equality Standard (NES) in recognition of our efforts to improve diversity & inclusion (D&I) across the business.
To achieve NES certification, organisations are independently reviewed via a rigorous assessment against defined set of criteria and best practice standards. Achieving NES accreditation forms a key part of The Greggs Pledge commitment to ‘Embracing Diversity’. Being awarded the standard is an important step in Greggs’ journey to continuously improve in this area, enhance D&I across the business and ensure its colleagues increasingly reflect the communities the company serves.
We are strengthening our competencies
We have signed up to the British Retail Consortium’s Better Job Diversity and Inclusion Charter (see here) and the Business in the Community Race at Work Charter and joined the Valuable 500, a global business collective made up of 500 CEOs and their companies, innovating together for disability inclusion.
With support from EY, Greggs has been assessed against the National Equality Standard, has recently gained accreditation. Key criteria include having leaders who advocate for diversity and inclusion, supporting people throughout their employment journey and having strategies in place to drive change.
We have reviewed our policies to ensure they are inclusive of everyone. Greggs recently introduced a Menopause Policy and a Transitioning at Work Policy.
We are building awareness and understanding
Training is a valuable tool in raising awareness of the importance of diversity.
All staff are encouraged to complete an e-learning module about diversity and our managers and supervisors receive training on inclusive leadership and management. We want to make sure they are leading and recruiting in an inclusive way and are conscious of their own bias and how this may impact their decisions.
We recruit for diversity
We have reviewed our recruitment processes and have updated our recruitment paperwork and training. We want to attract diverse candidates and ensure that everybody feels included throughout the candidate journey.
We recognise hidden disabilities
Some disabilities, like autism or chronic pain, can be invisible to the people around you. We have joined the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Scheme and provided training on non-visible disabilities. Colleagues with a hidden disability are welcome to wear a sunflower badge at work so their colleagues know they face additional challenges.
We have support networks in place
Our three colleague networks provide a brilliant opportunity for colleagues from minority groups and their allies, to get together and share their own personal experiences, offer feedback on the way we do things at Greggs and provide support to one another.
Each network is attended by colleagues from around the business, Operating Board Directors sponsor each network, meaning we have the right people tuning in to help build a truly inclusive workplace which values, acknowledges and empowers our colleagues.
Case study
We help people into work
Fresh Start
Our Fresh Start initiative reaches candidates who might not normally apply through our mainstream recruitment processes and encourages people from diverse backgrounds to learn about the great opportunities that Greggs has to offer.
At Greggs we understand that not everybody is always job ready, sometimes things happen which might mean that you haven’t been able to work for a period. We believe that by not overlooking a person because of their past we can support and develop them to their full potential.
Fresh Start’s five year plan has enabled us to reach over 3,400 candidates to date and offer over 2,300 work experience hours with over 175 job offers, and these figures are still growing.
Sourcing sustainability
We believe in doing business in a way that helps to make both our planet and our communities safer and better.
That means having sound social, ethical and environmental practices and choosing suppliers who share our values.
During 2021, we devised a five-year strategic plan to make sure that our approach to sourcing ingredients and packaging is as sustainable as our customers would expect. Our plan builds on the progress that we have made in recent years – particularly in the areas of modern slavery, animal welfare and climate change – as well as setting out clearer targets on the issues of deforestation and packaging pollution.
Pledge 9
By 2025, we will have a robust Responsible Sourcing Strategy in place and will report annually on progress towards our targets
We want to tackle modern slavery
We aim to create safer, better communities. Respecting human rights is one of our core values: we believe that our employees deserve the right to live and work with dignity and respect, and we believe that the people employed by our suppliers and business partners deserve the same. We have zero tolerance for any form of slavery, forced labour or human trafficking in our business or in our supply chain, whether within the UK or overseas.
We take steps to ensure that sound social and ethical practices are upheld, as outlined in our Modern Slavery Policy published every year.
We are supporters of Fairtrade
Since 2005, all our coffee beans and fruit have been sourced entirely from Fairtrade accredited suppliers, and over the years we have added apple juice, orange juice, sugar sticks, sugar syrup, hot chocolate, black tea, mint tea, and green tea to our Fairtrade commitments. In 2021, we added chocolate to the list.
This allows us to support marginalised producers in developing countries by guaranteeing a minimum price and a Fairtrade premium. This secure income allows producers to plan for a more sustainable future as well as support their local communities through investment in local schools, health care and infrastructure.
Between 2005 and 2023, we contributed over £7.6 million in Fairtrade premium.
We are trying to combat deforestation
We know that certain ingredients are associated with a high risk of deforestation due to clearing land to make space to raise livestock or grow crops. We have a role to play in protecting and improving forests and woodland and want to ensure that the products we sell have not led to the degradation or conversion of forests into farmland.
Not only is deforestation a contributor to climate change but it also leads to the loss of biodiversity and is linked to the exploitation of workers, indigenous people and local communities.
We are collaborating with our suppliers, a range of non-profit organisations and technical partners to refine and develop our approach. In 2022, for the first time, we disclosed information to the Carbon Disclosure Project about all the forest-risk commodities we source. These are palm oil, wood or paper, soy, cocoa and beef.
Greggs are proud to have signed up to the Sustainable Palm Oil City Project across the UK. We already source 100% certified sustainable palm oil, of which over 99% is from segregated sources. By the end of 2025, this will be 100%. By doing this we are helping to protect wildlife around the world by avoiding unsustainable agricultural practices supporting biodiversity and reducing environmental impact.
We believe that it is better to use sustainable palm rather than exclude it. This is because Palm Oil has several unique properties making it challenging to replace without impacting product quality and performance especially in puff pastry. It is also a crop with a high yield so replacing palm would increase the amount of land needed to grow the same quantity. We look forward to working with Chester Zoo on this vital project.
Today, 100% of the palm oil we use is Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certified sustainable, 100% of our coffee is Fairtrade certified, 100% of all direct purchases of soy are certified as sustainable, 100% of direct purchases of chocolate are Fairtrade certified and we are working towards 2025 targets on the other commodities:
Soy: 100% certified sustainable by the end of 2025
Greggs is a member of the UK Roundtable on Sustainable Soya (RTSS), and a signatory of UK Soy Manifesto. We are proud that all the soy we buy directly is now certified as sustainable.
Wood-based products: 100% certified sustainable
We only procure paper and board for our own brand packaging from certified sustainably managed forests, as confirmed by either the FSC or PEFC schemes.
Palm oil: 100% RSPO certified sustainable
All declared ingredients which contain palm oil must be RSPO certified. Any liquid or boxed palm oil purchased by Greggs must be fully segregated and RSPO certified. In addition, we are committed members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), which looks to minimise the negative impact of palm oil cultivation on the environments and communities in which it’s sourced.
Cocoa: 100% Fairtrade or Rainforest Alliance certified by the end of 2025
By the end of 2025, we want to tell our customers that 100% of the cocoa in our products is Fairtrade certified. We started with chocolate, and by the end of 2022 all our direct purchases contained Fairtrade certified cocoa. By the end of 2023, we want to be able to say the same of all products that contain chocolate as an ingredient too.
Beef: 100% reared on land that is Deforestation and Conversion Free (DCF) by the end of 2025
The brisket that we purchase directly is reared on land in the UK or Europe which has not been deforested or converted and we are investigating similar sources for corned beef too. During 2022, we surveyed all our suppliers of beef, and products that contain beef, to better understand what further work is required to meet our 2025 target.
We work in partnership with our suppliers
We will only work with suppliers who source their goods from farms accredited with these schemes: Red Tractor, GLOBAL G.A.P (Good Agricultural Practice) and Vegaplan. After all, it’s important to us that we’re considerate of our impact on the environment, from farm to fork.
We pay our suppliers promptly and offer reduced payment terms of 30 days to our smallest suppliers. We have made all our existing suppliers aware of our Responsible Sourcing Policy and, when we select a new supplier, we evaluate their environmental, social and ethical performance to ensure they can meet our high standards. As we continue to raise our game, we are collaborating with our suppliers to help raise theirs too. To ensure we treat suppliers fairly and do not transfer excessive risks and costs onto them that in turn stifle their innovation and growth, further principles are set out within the Greggs Procurement Code of Conduct.
Greggs is listed on the Corporate Ethics Register of the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply. This demonstrates that, over the past year, we have taken proactive steps to safeguard against unethical conduct in procurement and supply management.
Promoting animal welfare
Farm animal welfare is a priority for Greggs: avoiding the abuse or exploitation of animals is consistent with our values as an ethical business.
We expect all of our meat, fish, dairy products and eggs to come from animals that have been well treated. Our Farm Animal Welfare Strategy sets out our expectations for our suppliers.
Our ambition
We participated in the first Business Benchmark on farm animal welfare in 2012 and have done so ever since. It is the leading global measure for farm animal welfare management, policy commitment, performance and disclosure in food companies.
Over the last eight years, we’ve worked with our suppliers to implement the Greggs Farm Animal Welfare Standards to avoid the abuse or exploitation of animals. As a result, we climbed from Tier 5 in the Business Benchmark in 2012 to Tier 2 in 2016 – and have held that standard ever since.
Our intention is to take a leadership position on farm animal welfare by improving how we report on welfare measures.
Pledge 10
By 2025, we will secure and maintain Tier 1 in the Business Benchmark on farm animal welfare.
Our farm animal welfare standards
We have eight farm animal welfare standards that we ask our suppliers to meet:
Every animal is stunned before slaughter
No animal is transported for over 8 hours
No animal is kept in close confinement
No pigs are reared using sow stalls
No animals are reared using growth promoting substances
No animals are genetically modified or cloned
No dairy cow is tethered
No dairy cow has its tail docked
These standards are based on our farm animal welfare policies. In some cases, we have already achieved our objectives and are now maintaining them. In others, we’re working with our suppliers to move closer to our goal.
We monitor each of these key performance indicators through supplier questionnaires, third party accreditations, site visits, trace audits, and farm animal welfare audits.
To read more about these standards, and to see how we are doing on each measure, please read our Farm Animal Welfare Strategy.
Free-range laying hens
Whether we buy them as whole eggs or as a liquid, 100% of the eggs we use come from free-range hens. This means hens that spend their lives free from close confinement such as cages and have more freedom to move around and that are given access to an outside range. They are also able to express their normal behaviour including perching and pecking: chickens like to sit at a height and pecking is one of their basic needs.
The benefit of these interventions is seen in both the hens’ mental wellbeing and their behaviour. Measurable outcomes include the hens’ reactions (to humans, novelty, fear and comfort) and the time they spend expressing normal behaviour like pecking, perching, dust bathing and socialising.
Reducing stocking density for broiler chickens
Stocking density is the measure used to calculate how much space and freedom a chicken has to move around in. It is measured in kilos per square metre and, the lower the number, the more space they have.
We have set a maximum stocking density of 38kg per square metre which goes beyond EU and UK legislation. We want to go further and are working with our suppliers to increase the proportion reared at 30kg per square metre or less. We report on this figure annually: in 2023, 65% of our broiler chickens were raised at this stocking density or lower. This was lower than in previous years due to supply chain challenges related to Covid-19 but, by 2026, we hope to reach 100%.
In addition to this, we have demonstrated our commitment to improving the welfare of broiler chickens by signing up to the European Chicken Commitment (ECC).
We also took the decision to create the Greggs Broiler Standard which focuses on the two areas of the ECC which we believe have the greatest impact on chicken welfare: stocking density and mobility and we introduced this in 2024.