Greggs is looking to open drive-through shops around the country after a trial run proved a hit with with on-the-move Mancunians.

“It’s all about convenience and the most convenient thing is not having to get out of your car,” said Greggs boss Roger Whiteside. “You can just drive up and order a coffee, sausage roll or doughnut.”

Whiteside is in the process of reinventing the Newcastle baker as a “food-to-go” chain, adding falafel salads and mocha coffee to the menu alongside traditional favourites such as sausage rolls and steak bakes. The first drive-through opened in Irlam, Greater Manchester in June, with hungry drivers pulling off the busy roundabout to stock up.

Greggs said shoppers typically spent more at the drive-through than in a high street store as they were making a food run for a group of people. In recent years the likes of McDonald’s and Costa Coffee have been opening drive-through stores; Whiteside said competition for the locations would be fierce and said that so far no other sites have been signed up.

The update came as Greggs reported flat underlying profits of £27.6m on sales of £453m. Sales at company-run stores that have been open more than a year rose 3.4% in the 26 weeks to 1 July.

The Brexit shock to the pound, as well as spikes in the cost of key ingredients such as butter, put pressure on Greggs’ profit margins in the first six months of the year. Whiteside said the business saw cost input inflation of 7% over the period, but savings within its manufacturing operation had shielded customers from the impact. Whiteside said the chain was “alert to pressures building on consumers’ disposable income” but it was yet to see any change in customer behaviour.

Greggs, which operates about 1,800 stores, has been closing underperforming high street branches and trying out new locations including petrol forecourts and hospital foyers. Alongside the drive-through branch, Greggs is also testing the customer appetite for a delivery service.

GlobalData analyst Molly Johnson-Jones said the decision to recast the baker as a food-to-go chain had been a successful one, with much of the sales growth coming from new products such as coffee, porridge and lower calorie wraps. “Greggs is becoming a relevant destination for the modern market,” she said.