A MAJOR cafe chain with 473 stores has closed all concept branches after eight years of operation.
The novelty of veganism has gone stale at Pret A Manger after the chain confirmed its three remaining “Veggie Pret” sites will close by the end of the month.
1
However, it’s not all bad news, as the three remaining Veggie Prets – two in London and one in Manchester – will be converted to classic Prets by the end of February.
The two London shops, on Broadwick Street and Great Eastern Street, will convert on February 19.
And the Veggie Pret in Deansgate, Manchester, will convert on February 26.
Katherine Bagshawe, UK food and coffee director at Pret A Manger, said: “Today, one in three of all our main meals sales are veggie or vegan-friendly.
Read more in money
“Every Pret shop is a Veggie Pret shop, with new vegetarian and vegan-friendly products coming onto our menu all the time.
“Our original Meatless Meatball Hot Wrap was born in Veggie Pret, yet it became a top five bestseller across the whole of Pret within its first week of launching, showing us how customers across all our shops want amazing veggie food.”
The first Veggie Pret was opened in Soho, central London, in 2016 after a successful trial.
The company went on to open ten more and bought firm rival Eat to turn its outlets into branches catering solely for vegetarians or vegans.
Most read in Money
But those plans were turned upside down as the pandemic and lockdowns destroyed the busy lunchtime trade near office blocks.
Bosses began shutting the Veggie branches or converting them into standard Prets, where products such as crayfish sarnies and chicken caesar baguettes remain bestsellers.
Veganism’s mainstream appeal has been partly helped by celebs such as pop star Ellie Goulding speaking about their plant-based diets.
Pret A Manger has got itself in a right pickle by charging £7.15 for “Britain’s worst-value baguette”
Pret A Manger’s sandwich chain got itself in a pickle last year after charging £7.15 for “Britain’s worst-value baguette”.
The eat-in price tag has been slapped on Posh Cheddar and Pickle products at a London Tube station outlet.
Furious customers blasted the chain’s pricing on social media, branding it a “rip-off”.
Leyla Hayes wrote: “They’re taking the p**s. . . . that’s what’s happening.”
Consumer expert Scott Dixon fumed: “I would refuse to pay it.
“I never have, never will. Everything’s a rip-off in this country.”
And Steve Blower added: “Sometimes you reach the conclusion that a brand that you used to like is no longer what it was.”
Glenn Boycott joked: “That must be Britain’s worst-value baguette. For that price, you could buy enough to make ten of them.”
The sandwich is nearly £1.50 cheaper if customers sign up for Club Pret membership for £30 a month.
A Pret spokeswoman insisted the £7.15 price, or £5.95 to eat out, was only in transport hubs, and most customers buy the baguette to take away for £4.95 in non-station outlets.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
She added: “Like all businesses, we are facing intense cost pressures, which we are trying to absorb as much as possible.”
A Financial Times probe this year found most Pret sandwich prices had soared by more than a third since the start of 2022 — more than double the rate of food inflation.
