Greggs flies into Tenerife as demand boosts sales

National high street baker Greggs is rolling out an Iberian expansion after shrugging off cost pressures to notch higher sales.

The pasty and sausage roll maker is set to open a store in Tenerife South Airport.

The Newcastle-headquartered firm says the move will “test its offering to millions of UK and international passengers”.

The baker unveiled the transport hub plan in a trading update for the 19 weeks to May 9, which revealed a 7.5 per cent rise in total sales to £800 million in a “challenging” market.

Like-for-like sales across company-managed shops grew by 2.5 per cent.

Bosses say the numbers were fuelled by clamour for lines including a recently-launched chicken roll, adding demand for a new iced matcha-flavoured drink range has brought “new and younger customers” to its stores.

However, they warned the baker – which began life selling eggs and yeast to North East families from a bicycle more than 80 years ago – remains cautious of geopolitical pressures, admitting the ongoing Middle East conflict could result in higher overall cost inflation across the rest of 2026 and into 2027.

Hailing its progress, including its Tenerife South Airport move – alongside global travel operator Lagardère Travel Retail – chief executive Roisin Currie said the business had made “encouraging profit progress in the year-to-date”.

She added: “Like-for-like sales performance has improved against what remains a challenging market, with good operational cost control supporting encouraging year-on-year profit progress.

“Tenerife South Airport is a destination for millions of UK and international passengers each year, and represents an excellent opportunity to test our offering in an international travel hub.

“We are monitoring the situation in the Middle East, and should the conflict become prolonged we, like all food retailers, will likely see higher overall cost inflation.

“In this uncertain environment, our value offer remains highly attractive.”

She added testing work is continuing on a previously-announced Derby frozen product making and distribution hub, which is set to open later this year, with work continuing “at pace” on a Kettering-based national distribution centre planned to open in 2027.

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