As veganism has grown in popularity, so have sales at companies including Greggs, Leon and Dr Martens – and not only of their animal-free wares

Even as it was unfolding in the first cold days of Veganuary 2019, the launch of the Greggs vegan sausage roll felt like something marketing experts and cultural commentators would be pulling apart for years to come. Who knows: future historians may yet see it as a key turning point in the lead-up to the second English civil war (2020-27).

What is certain is that it was good for Greggs: its profits leapt more than 50%, to £40.6m, in the first six months of 2019. Even as Piers Morgan was raging about “PC-ravaged clowns” on social media, queues were forming at Greggs branches up and down the land and the Quorn factory in Darlington, where the filling is made, was going into overdrive. It was hard to keep up with demand for the piping-hot, fermented-fusarium-venenatum-strain-PTA-2684-based snack.