Is veganism hitting the mainstream?
After the success of Greggs’ vegan sausage roll, Finsbury Foods PLC (LON:FIF) is now pinning its hopes on a vegan brioche-style burger bun.
Traditionally brioche contains large quantities of butter and also eggs, which vegans don’t eat, and in the past, that would have made it a no-no for them.
READ: Finsbury Food shares slide as it reports drop in half-year revenue
But veganism is a fast-growing market and Finsbury is looking at all ways to offset rising ingredient and overhead costs.
In September, for example, it acquired gluten-free bakery products group Ultrapharm for up to £25mln to boost is a presence in the 'free from' market.
Flour is the latest commodity to shoot up in price, said chief executive John Duffy, and has added to rising costs of energy, staff and general inflation.
The cake and breads maker still expects profits in the second half to match the first but says the backdrop is challenging.
Interim operating profits to December were flat at £8.7mln on sales of £152mln against £157.8mln.
A sharp reduction in one-off costs meant Finsbury bounced back to a half-year profit of £7.5mln (£1.2mln loss).
The interim dividend goes up by 5.5% to 1.16p.
Shares eased 2.5% to 80p