Pret A Manger's Veggie Verdict
CEO Clive Schlee followed up on a previous blog post about making Pret more vegetarian-friendly.
“Two weeks ago I wrote a blog about the growing level of sales of vegetarian products within Pret and I invited my readers to vote on how Pret should respond,” he said.
“There were almost ten thousand responses and, as seems typical of recent referendums, the result was clear but close: 52% voted in favour of a special vegetarian fridge, versus 44% in favour of an exclusively vegetarian Pret and just 4% for the status quo.”
“People were stimulated by the idea and the fact that a large high street retailer should put it out there. Their responses were full of good sense and a touching affection for Pret. Several themes came through clearly. Voters against a single vegetarian shop argued that it wouldn’t help the vast majority of our customers. They warned us that it might not make commercial sense. Many people commented that isolating vegetarians did not feel right. There was a strong call to arms from vegans, a movement that is clearly growing in popularity.”
Schlee posted about Pret’s plans, including more veggies on the brand’s menus, improved labelling, and marketing campaigns. These plans are:
- We will increase the number of vegetarian and vegan products in our shops
- We will improve labelling to call out vegetarian and vegan dishes more clearly
- We will run a “call to arms” marketing campaign for veggie food next year
- We will test a vegetarian fridge in one of our shops
- We will explore converting an existing Pret into a vegetarian Pret for a few weeks next Summer to test the water
“Consulting our customers via social media is a new experience for us and I have found it very positive (so far!),” Schlee said.
“The Pret Chefs will be extremely busy devising exciting new veggie and vegan recipes. If you’ve got any great ideas for our menu, we’d love to know.”
