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The boss of Newcastle food-on-the-go giant Greggs says it is working on vegan versions of all its best selling products following the success of its vegan sausage roll.

In an interview with radio station LBC on the day Greggs opened its 2,000th store, Greggs chief executive Roger Whiteside revealed the company was looking at the possibility of creating vegan versions of products like steak bakes and pasties.

The vegan sausage roll helped the Newcastle business record an 11% rise in sales earlier this year and has been much copied by other food producers.

Mr Whiteside said the vegan products were part of Greggs’ transformation from a traditional baker to a food-on-the-go specialist that had seen it buck the national trend of closures on the High Street.

He said: “We’re working away to see if we can come up with a vegan version of all our top selling lines because people want a vegan option. That’s what’s been shown by the vegan sausage roll.”

Mr Whiteside’s comments come on the same day that Greggs opened its 2,000th store at the new public transport interchange in South Shields, part of the company’s strategy to open in locations that are more convenient for customers, particularly transport hubs.

He said: “The vegan sausage roll was another example of us trying to develop things that are in keeping with where people are and what people want to consume more of these days.

“We’ve been very successful with the vegan sausage roll but long before that we’ve had success with coffee - we’ve now overtaken Starbucks to be number three in the º£½ÇÊÓƵ coffee market. We’re number two in breakfasts and these are areas that a backer business or a bread shop would be expected to be market-leading in.