Greggs a manger aims for healthier, cheaper food-on-the-go

It's not all steak bakes and sausage rolls. Attempts by Greggs to reinvent itself as a healthier, Pret a Manger-style coffee shop chain are starting to pay off with half-year profits up nearly 50%.

The bakery chain, with 1,661 stores in Britain, introduced a range of freshly made sandwiches with fewer than 400 calories, and less salt and sugar. Its coffee blend has been changed, according to Greggs, to "make it taste smoother".

Under its new boss, Roger Whiteside, Greggs has also been refitting its stores and adding more seating to tap into the unabated growth in coffee shops in Britain. Opening hours have been extended by half an hour in the morning and the evening (many Greggs shops are now open from 7am until 5.30pm) to catch people on their way into work and on their way home. Low commodity price inflation (such as lower pork and wheat prices) and the increasing tendency to eat food on the go are also boosting sales.

Greggs' finance director, Richard Hutton, said: "We want to make sure we keep pace with changing taste. People have developed a taste for good coffee and healthy food."

But he added: "We still sell more sausage rolls than anything else, more than 100m a year. You will still see the sausage roll as a snack. It has 350 calories. There's nothing to worry about for the sausage roll."

But even that Greggs stalwart is becoming healthier. The firm has reduced the salt content of its pastry by 30% in the last couple of years. "We do it gradually and over time," Hutton said. "If the product doesn't taste great, people will vote with their feet."

Freshly prepared food – Greggs plans new fresh soup and hot sandwich ranges come autumn and winter – sets the bakery group apart from the big coffee shop chains, which bring pre-prepared sandwiches in from suppliers, Hutton said.

"Greggs has a similar model to Pret. We have a similar supply chain, although we own our own bakeries, Pret don't. Both are about good food made fresh."

The company's sales rose 3% to £373m in the first half of the year, lifting pre-tax profits to £17m. The house brokers, UBS and N+1 Singer, upgraded their full-year forecast by £2m to £48m-£49m.

Greggs credited its new ranges as well as "more settled" weather than last year and the economic recovery. It acknowledged its numbers were flattered by weak trading in 2013, a year when it issued two profit warnings and blamed hot weather, cold weather and "promiscuous shoppers" for its problems.

Last August it launched a five-year plan to revamp itself to keep up with the food-on-the-go market.

Sales began to pick up at the end of the year, but a decision to scrap dozens of in-store bakeries and a management cull led to the loss of 400 jobs. The company has abandoned plans to increase its total number of stores, but plans to spend £50m to upgrade 200 shops this year.