BAKERY chain Greggs is planning to ramp up its healthy eating options as demand surges for its salads and yoghurts.

Chief executive Roger Whiteside said the firm was branching out further from its traditional staples of sausage rolls and doughnuts into Mexican food, and potentially even sushi.

He said: “We will always be a bakery and sausage rolls will always be part of that, but we’re trying to leverage that with demand for healthier options.

“We’re also looking seriously at Mexican food. It’s struggled in the UK but is gaining a foothold, and it’s not impossible that we’ll see sushi on the menu one day.”

Greggs healthy food range now accounts for 10 per cent of sales and is seeing double digit growth. The chain has two outlets in Barrow and one each in Ulverston and Dalton.

Mr Whiteside added: “We accept that the trend is moving away from doughnuts and sausage rolls. The key is to offer a variety of food that everyone can afford.”

Greggs operates almost 1,700 shops and 12 bakeries including a state-of-the-art £4.5m bakery in Penrith that it opened in in 2011 to replace premises inherited with the acquisition of Birketts in 1997.

Locally, it has outlets in Carlisle, Penrith, Wigton, Maryport, Cockermouth, Workington, Keswick, Whitehaven, Egremont, Cleator Moor, Annan and at Southwaite Services.