GREGGS has won a legion of followers in Japan after Madame Tussauds displayed a waxwork version of the bakery chain’s sausage roll.
Japanese expat influencers have been trying the British pastry favourite and waxing lyrical about it on TikTok.
And their countrymen are now desperate to travel halfway around the world to try one for themselves.
In one video, a Japanese TikTok influencer living in the UK tells her 10,000 followers she eats Greggs twice a day and says: “If you plan to go to England, please try this.”
Another said: “Pretty sure it’s a legal requirement in the UK to eat at least one Greggs.”
The Newcastle-based chain became so well-known online that Japanese news channels have run TV reports explaining what it is.
On one item on the popular Nippon TV network, a reporter tells viewers: “Madame Tussauds, the wax museum that is one of London’s popular tourist attractions, features numerous wax figures of British royal family members and world-famous celebrities.
“This time, the new exhibit is not a human, but a sausage roll — a popular snack in the UK.
“June 5 is designated as National Sausage Roll Day in the UK, and Madame Tussauds has created a wax replica of a sausage roll made to look just like the one sold by Greggs, a British chain.
“Greggs’ sausage rolls are a beloved snack in the UK, with around one million sold each day.
“The wax figure production team spent several months completing the piece, going through trial and error to recreate the flaky pastry layers and crisp texture of the sausage roll.”
Bemused Japanese journalists even interviewed families scoffing sausage rolls outside a branch in London, and asked why they liked them so much.
One man, identified by the channel only as “person eating”, told viewers: “The crust is crunchy, crispy and soft. The seasoning is really good.”
Greggs was asked to comment on its new-found fame in the Far East.
But after the waxwork was unveiled at Madame Tussauds in central London last week, Greggs CEO Roisin Currie, said:
“Seeing our sausage roll receive the celebrity treatment is a proud and slightly surreal moment for all of us.”
