Greggs’ cheeky new plan to help weight loss? Make more doughnuts with holes
BAKERY chain Greggs has promised to fight obesity by encouraging customers to buy ring doughnuts rather than jam-filled ones.
It is planning to change its displays so that jam doughnuts are surrounded by ring doughnuts, as the hole and lack of fillings mean they have fewer calories.
It has also introduced a wider choice of ring doughnuts, which are around 200 calories compared to traditional fondant doughnuts which are around 325.
Greggs' CEO, Roger Whiteside, told a childhood obesity conference that ring doughnuts remove some of the calories.According to an article in , he said: “The ring doughnuts are between 200 and 300 calories, the ball doughnuts are between 300 and 400 calories.”
He added: "People like big cakes, not little cakes . . . we know that we shouldn’t be encouraging people to eat large cakes... but the problem is you have to go with demand.”
The doughnut diet is Gregg's response to a new government obesity strategy, where the food industry has promised to reduce sugar and offer healthier alternatives such as salad or fruit.
A Greggs spokeswoman, told the Sun that the company was “serious about customer health”.
She said: “Encouraging healthy eating is a key priority for Greggs and is why we have extended our product range to include more lower calorie options.
"When it comes to sweet bakery these are not diet products but if customers want to treat themselves then we offer more choices at lower calories.”
"Greggs has also reduced sugar by 20 per cent across its sweet range. For example, sugar in cookies has been reduced by 27 per cent.”
A Greggs jam doughnut contains 245 calories, 12 grams of sugar and 10 grams of fat.
By contrast, a Greggs glazed ring doughnut contains 191 calories, 13 grams of sugar, but only 6.4 grams of fat.
The worst offender calorie-wise of all the Gregg's options is the triple chocolate doughnut which comes in at 341 calories and contains a whopping 29g of sugar.
The worst for sugar is the Pink Jammie at 32g. It also contains 321 calories, but only 9.3g of fat.
The highest fat content is the Greggs cream finger doughnut which contains 22g. It also has 335 colories, but only 8.1g of sugar, making it the lowest sugar option.
The best option calorie-wise is the glazed ring doughnut, which only has 191 calories - it's the only Gregg's option coming in at under 200kcal. It's also the option with the lowest fat content overall.
Gregg's has also been promoting its "balanced choice" options, which are all meals coming in at under 400 calories.
The range includes items from the breakfast menu, the salad menu and a selection of drinks and snacks.
Here's everything that makes the list.
Breakfast
- Original porridge
- Golden syrup porridge
- Strawberry and granola yoghurt
- Mango and granola yoghurt
Lunch
- Honey roast and egg salad sub roll
- Tuna and cucumber sandwich
- Free range egg sandwich
- Feta and tomato pasta
- Tomato soup
- Christmas lunch soup
Snacks
- Mixed grapes
- Fruit medley
- Tropical fruit pot
Drinks
- Raspberry lemonade
- Sparkling cloudy lemonade
- Lemon and lime water
- Still strawberry water
- Orange juice
Greggs now delivers in some parts of the country with Deliveroo and Just Eat.
If you're not in a delivery area and fancy a doughnut or something healthier you'll have to pop to your local restaurant.
There are around ,650 Greggs in the UK and you can find your nearest one using the shop finder on the .
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