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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Entertainment
Danielle Kate Wroe & Kate Lally

Former Greggs worker shares real reason why pasties are often cold

A former Greggs employee has lifted the lid on what it's like to work there, from everything to "secret" marks on pasties, to why some baked goods are often cold.

Greggs is a much-loved British institution thanks to its delicious offerings and affordability. Greggs sells more sausage rolls than McDonald's sells Big Macs, and there are plenty of behind-the-scenes secrets that make it as successful as it is.

Starting off as a solo shop in Newcastle in 1951, there are now 2,000 stores across the UK hiring 25,000 employees, and sales have more than doubled over the last decade, the Mirror reports.

READ MORE: McDonald's fan hailed 'next Martin Lewis' after sharing free food trick

And its fanbase is so loyal, customers don't even mind that baked goods aren't always piping hot. One former staff member has now shared why this is often the case.

Former store manager James Oldfield said: "The reason Greggs can have such reasonable prices is they're not charged VAT if they're not keeping them warm. They're just baking them fresh."

James also said the sandwiches are made at an extremely fast pace, and "sixty an hour was the standard", but the ex-employee said that he'd seen people making up to 90 an hour.

Another ex Greggs worker shared why there are different markings on different pasties. He told the Mirror: "This is something I hadn't noticed when I was a shopper at Greggs before I started working there.

"One of the first things you have to do is learn the markings. And it can only really be done in a textbook style with a list and picture of what it should look like. It's like a new language.

"The corned beef has a zig zag line going across it, the sausage and bean has three horizontal slits, while the ham and cheese bake has a trim round the side with lines across. The cheese and onion bake has got giant Vs and the steak bake has three diagonal slits with a trim around the side."

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