Anger after vegan steak bake mix up

A woman who has been vegetarian for 10 years has been left “incredibly frustrated and upset” after being served a meat version of the Greggs steak bake. 

Rebecca Gilliland, 25, from Finchley, went to the Greggs store in Ballard’s Lane to order one of the chain’s popular new meat-free vegan steak bakes. It was only when she took her first bite that she realised “pretty immediately” that something was wrong. 

Ms Gilliland, who is a theatre actress in London’s West End show Wicked, went straight back to the store and asked the woman behind the till if she had definitely been given a vegan item. “I showed it to her, and she became visibly panicked and started apologising profusely and realised that she had given me an original meat version. She refunded my money for the item and I left, incredibly frustrated and upset.”

Ms. Gilliland had not eaten meat for over 10 years until the incident. She said: “I never particularly ate meat growing up and, as I got older, I realised just how high the slaughter rate was in animals for human consumption. I decided I never wanted meat again…. I was genuinely shocked and downhearted when it came to light that I had eaten meat.” 

She added: “It’s a strange thing when 10 years of your life have been spent actively not consuming any meat products and, in one clumsy oversight from a staff member, that’s all changed. More than anything, I was angry that such a foolish mistake could be made.”

Ms. Gilliland made an official complaint to Greggs’ head office and claims that she was offered a £15 voucher to spend in store. She explained: “It’s a very kind gesture and I accept their apology, but the whole incident has just left a rather bitter taste in my mouth”.

Ms. Gilliland accepts that this was a mistake but encourages the firm to train their staff to be “more observant and cautious”. 

Although the names of both the vegan and non-vegan options are similar, the vegan steak bake does have a different colour to help avoid confusion. A spokesperson for Greggs said: “We are very sorry to hear of this incident and are investigating to ensure this doesn’t happen again. We have been in regular dialogue with the customer and sincerely apologise.”