Gail’s has been criticised for selling spruced up “twice baked, unsold” pain au chocolats as “almond chocolate croissants” the next day for almost £1 extra.
As part of its Waste Not incentive to avoid food being thrown away, the upmarket bakery chain soaks the day-old pastries in syrup and tops them “with almond frangipane and flaked almonds”.
But while on day one the pain au chocolat costs £2.95, the day-old almond version cost £3.90.
Lucy P wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that she had seen the chocolate and almond croissant advertised through Deliveroo for £4.60.
I’m sorry WHAT
— LucyP (@its_me_lucyp) August 14, 2024
You’re charging £4.60 for an item that didn’t sell yesterday because you chucked some almond on top 🤯 pic.twitter.com/t5YyAv9kfD
“Unsure whether to be impressed or horrified that someone has come up with a concept to capitalise yellow sticker goods to make more profit,” she wrote.
“The audacity of bragging about it being part of their ‘Waste Not’ range like we should be grateful to them and proud of ourselves for contributing to reducing food waste when they could just sell it for less money – not one pound more than yesterday.”
Lucy’s post attracted responses from users who were shocked about the price.
It is thought that the extra cost derives from the need to bake the pastry one more time and apply the almond topping.
Jess Hawthorn commented: “What confuses me is that the croissant is either ok to eat or it isn’t; so if a second day croissant is ok then why would it have been wasted if it didn’t get almonds put on the top.
“Do the almonds increase its shelf life or not? So they charge more for older food than for fresh?”
Despite the pushback, it is not uncommon for cafes to repurpose food to try and reduce waste.
A Gail’s spokesman said: “We created our Waste Not range at Gail’s to make good food go further. Our almond croissants and chocolate and almond croissants are strong favourites in our bakeries.
“The croissants are soaked in demerara syrup and topped with our house-made frangipane spread, alongside crunchy almonds. The day-old croissants are sturdier than fresh ones, making them the perfect bake to be used.”
Gail’s has recently been subject to a petition by Walthamstow residents who are trying to keep the upmarket chain out of the neighbourhood.
