due diligencing in london – pret a manger

Pret a Manger was one of the key places I wanted to visit during my London market due diligence trip.  When I first told a friend living in London about my business idea, he told me I should absolutely have a look at “Pret A Manger“.

Their original business idea was to a high extent alongside my thoughts for my own startup: to create handmade natural food avoiding the obscure chemicals, additives and preservatives common to so much of the ‘prepared’ and ‘fast’ food on the market today.

College friends, Sinclair and Julian, started up their business in London in 1986 by creating the sort of food they craved but couldn’t find anywhere else.  Today Pret has 295  shops worldwide. Most of them are in the UK and between them produce a turn over of roughly 380 million British pounds a year.

The choice of sandwiches is extensive and it also covers a decent range for vegetarians and vegans – assuming they like avocado, since this seems to be a staple ingredient for Pret’s veggie menu:

Here goes an Avocado & Herb Salad Wrap (for vegetarians, not vegans: with Avocado, Italian Matured Cheese, Toasted Pine Nuts, Tomatoes, Cucumber, Whole Leaf Basil, Yoghurt Mayo Dressing, Leaf Spinach and Seasoning) and a Super-Veg Sushi Wrap (with Spinach, Beetroot, Broccoli, Nori, Roasted Sesame Dressing, Tortilla Wrap):

Recently Pret has started also with a gluten-free offering since more and more people discover to have digestive problems when eating gluten.  This has resulted in the so-called “No Bread” product range. I was very interesting in seeing this, however I had expected more of a sandwich-type arrangement.  To me it looks like a grain&veggie salad. But anyway, I think I should be quite ok.  The Greens & Grains No Bread has Avocado, Quinoa, Peas, Lemon, Parsley, Edamame, Salad, Seasoning, Mint Raita – which is probably not vegan, but don’t be picky and just omit it then.

I quite liked also the appearance of the Naked Avocado Bloomer, again with the indispensable Avocado, Rocket, Basil, Roasted (!) Tomatoes, Kalamata Olives, Lemon Juice and Seasoning.

In general I think Pret’s idea is great and delivers an alternative to customers.  I especially like their commitment to freshness “Made today – Gone today”:

and here goes another great product idea for kids smaller hands – mum’s will love it… but do think of veggie mums too please

The one thing I find a pity is again the amount of waste that is been produced.  I do not like the amount of packaging involved in the take-away food industry.

However, concerning food waste, Pret seems to be a shining example for the industry with the set up of their Pret Foundation Trust and the “Pret Charity Run“:  At the end of each day unsold meals are delivered to numerous shelters in London – 12,000 every week.  Many charities across the UK also collect directly from Pret shops at the end of each day.  In total, Pret donated over 2.5 million products in 2012 to charities for the homeless across the UK.

I’m lovin’ it…