Cooplands goes all out for Veganuary

This month it will launch the UK’s first high street vegan cream cake along with plant-based versions of its savoury pastry best sellers.

With 170 shops across Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and the North East, Cooplands is the UK’s second largest bakery chain.

The firm said vegans and those wanting to cut down their meat and dairy intake don’t want to miss out on their savoury favourites. For Veganuary 2021, the firm is launching its flaky pastry treats with vegan-friendly pastry and fillings. It makes, bakes and delivers all of its products fresh to store every day.

Cooplands, which started in 1885 as a small pork butcher and pie maker in Scarborough, was the first high street bakery to sell 100 per cent vegan bread and rolls, made without animal fats, dairy, eggs or honey.

It launched its vegan sausage roll in 2019 to meet the trend towards a more ‘flexitarian’ lifestyle, which led to its decision to expand the range in 2021.

The new vegan range will include a vegan steak bake (£1.50), a vegan cheese & vegetable bake (£1.50) and a vegan pizza slice (£1.55) made with Violife’s mature cheddar. It will also sell a vegan cheese & pickle sandwich (£1.65) made with Violife cheese.

The company is also catering for sweet-toothed customers with the first vegan-friendly cream cake on UK high streets. The vegan Devonshire split (£1.15) is a soft, sweet bun, filled with strawberry jam and a whipped cream alternative from the makers of Elmlea’s plant cream. Customer favourites, ginger squares and iced fingers, are also vegan-friendly.

Belinda Youngs, Cooplands’ CEO, said: “It’s been a challenging time this year, but we’ve shown that we can be agile and resilient, whilst still looking ahead to cater for changing customer needs.

“We are committed to creating great food that everyone can enjoy, whether they’re meat lovers, flexitarian, dairy-free or vegan and we’ve worked hard to create our vegan range that packs in all the flavour and that tastes so good, it would be hard to tell the difference or miss the meat.”

The company has introduced a 20 per cent discount for NHS, emergency services and care workers. It has also donated food to care homes and hospitals.

Ms Youngs said: “The market will continue to challenge us and be unpredictable for some months to come, but one thing I am sure of is that we have the right team across all parts of our business to continue to grow it and achieve its potential, and we will continue to serve our local communities in the best ways we can.”