Is it a wrap for the sandwich moguls?

Britain's love affair with the traditional sandwich is coming under attack from rising demand for the more exotic Mexican wrap.

Britain's love affair with the traditional sandwich is coming under attack from rising demand for the more exotic Mexican wrap.

Figures show that the tortilla snacks are soaring in popularity while the humble sliced-white products are stagnating. Low carbohydrate diets, and increasingly cosmopolitan tastes in the snack market, are behind the change, says the British Sandwich Association.

The UK sandwich market is worth an estimated £3.3bn, with 1.8 billion products sold every year. The "two-pack wedge" of a diagonally cut sandwich accounts for 50 per cent of the market, and wraps take 2 per cent. But sales of wraps are growing by 26.8 per cent a year and in the past six months, rose 39.2 per cent. Jim Winship, director of the BSA, said: "Wraps are clearly growing in popularity. I think people like them because they are seen as an alternative to bread and are perceived perhaps as being healthier than normal sandwiches." Tesco introduced wraps in 1997 and they account for one in five of its sandwich sales. A spokeswoman said: "The wrap contains less bread and so is recommended as part of a low GI or low carbohydrate diet."

The best-seller is a chicken-caesar wrap that now outsells the stalwart egg and cress sandwich.

The saga of the sandwich started more than 200 years ago when the fourth Earl of Sandwich ordered servants to bring him a hunk of meat between two slices of bread so he could continue to gamble while he ate.