Pret a Manger Creates Handmade, Natural Food Avoiding the Chemicals, Additives and Preservatives Commonly Found in Much of Today’S ‘Prepared’ and ‘Fast’ Food
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
CSB08_078-079_Pret A Manger 12/6/2008 15:51 Page 78 Pret A Manger creates handmade, natural food avoiding the chemicals, additives and preservatives commonly found in much of today’s ‘prepared’ and ‘fast’ food. It has a reputation for placing importance on continually committing to sourcing and using natural ingredients and its unwillingness to compromise on freshness or quality. a leading sustainable development charity, the brand recently joined London’s Green 500 programme and has been named one of the UK’s Top Employers of 2008, scoring highly in both social and sustainability categories. Product Since it was established in 1986, Pret A Manger has revolutionised its market, from the outset sticking to its founding principle: to serve freshly prepared, natural food. Market Achievements Pret operates like a restaurant, with each Over the last 10 years the sandwich market Pret A Manger’s long-standing association shop (bar one or two of the smallest) running has grown substantially. It is currently with homeless charities is an integral part of its own kitchen. ‘Sell by’ dates are redundant estimated to be worth around £3.5 billion the company ethos. A fleet of electric vans as everything is freshly prepared daily. Food a year (Source: The British Sandwich deliver more than 12,000 fresh meals to fads are sidelined in favour of ongoing Association 2007), making the humble homeless shelters in London each week with improvements to the existing range. The sandwich the UK’s most popular fast food. other UK-based charities collecting directly at brand’s product focus remains on creating A primary factor driving growth is the the end of each day. In total, Pret donates simple, delicious, confident flavours from sandwich’s reputation as a healthy ‘fast over 1.7 million products to UK homeless natural free range source ingredients or food’ option. As the public have become charities annually, preventing food from organic, where possible. increasingly health conscious, market value ending up in landfills. Attention to detail and flavour are two of has increased. The trend for shorter lunches Indeed, avoiding landfill wherever possible the main driving factors behind the brand. has also impacted with sandwiches offering is a primary brand goal. Pret A Manger The Pret Chocolate Brownie, for example, has the ideal convenient, affordable and speedy believes in reducing energy consumption, lunch. Wider availability and choice has so continually challenges its team to adapt strengthened competition but while many habits and business practices to cut usage. have sought to emulate the Pret ‘formula’, Despite costing a little more, all Pret its attention to detail, commitment to natural outlets use electricity from 100 per cent quality ingredients and unwillingness to ‘green’ sources – a mixture of wind, compromise keeps it at the forefront of wave and hydro-electricity. the market. Pret A Manger is currently involved It was within inner city locations populated in 32 sustainability projects, including by city workers that Pret A Manger first made paperless banking, thermo mugs its debut; today it serves over one million (reducing paper usage by some people a week in prime sites across the UK, 650,000 cups) and organic waste employing 3,889 staff with an annual composting for shop kitchen waste. turnover of more than £200 million. As a partner of Forum For The Future, 1986 1987 1998 2001 2002 2005 Pret A Manger is founded by Pret A Manger’s first Andrew Rolfe joins Pret The McDonald’s A new stand-alone Pret A Manger entrepreneurs Julian Metcalfe shop, on Victoria as chairman and chief Corporation buys a recruitment centre takes first place and Sinclair Beecham. Street in London, executive and proves minority stake in for the brand opens in the Top 50 Quitting their City jobs, they ends its first year of crucial in steering the Pret A Manger, although in Victoria train Foodservice believe they can provide a trading by serving company’s expansion. it has no direct influence station. Company awards. better service than many of more than 7,000 over what is sold, London’s sandwich bars. customers a week. or how. 078 CSB08_078-079_Pret A Manger 12/6/2008 15:56 Page 79 changed 34 times, each change small but home. The concept – still very much a work its message that a balanced diet of nutritious, significant in terms of flavour improvement. in progress – kicked off in May with Pret’s unprocessed food plays a significant role in Pret’s Fruit & Oat slice is, unusually for today, preservative-free picnic summer menu and keeping healthy. still stirred by hand. Where mechanical will be followed by the all-natural winter mixers make more commercial sense their menu at the end of September 2008. Brand Values tendency to turn mixtures into pulp adversely Pret A Manger’s success relies on staff pride affects flavour and texture. That Pret favours Promotion in their work, a culture that is fostered from the more costly and laborious hand mixing Pret’s unconventional approach to within, not from an appointed brand director. method is indicative of the company’s promotional activity keeps direct marketing This egalitarian hands-on approach filters commitment to outstanding quality and taste. to a minimum. The absence of a designated down from the CEO to shop assistants and The company’s mission statement is press or PR team is a key aspect of emphasises the importance Pret A Manger prominently displayed in all of its its overall cost structure with total places on training and retaining good staff. shops and everything on the Pret communication expenditure The brand personality is underpinned in its menu – whether it’s a special budgeted at less than core values: passion for food, enthusiasm, fish sushi, egg and cress 0.4 per cent of sales, integrity, honesty and belief in its convictions sandwich, freshly pressed compared to competitors with an uncompromising stance on quality carrot juice or chocolate such as McDonald’s and and commitment to innovation. brownie – complies with its Marks & Spencer that run founding principles of between five and seven per www.pret.com handmade, natural food. cent. The brand’s view is that investing in store staff and Recent Developments quality ingredients is a more Things you didn’t know about In 2008 Pret A Manger expanded effective form of promotion than Pret A Manger the concept of seasonality to its hiring advertising space. shop designs. While it has always Commitment to quality ingredients Pret A Manger was the first retailer emphasised the importance of using fresh, (with no hidden chemicals) lies at the core of to move from plastic sandwich boxes seasonal ingredients it also recognises that Pret A Manger’s recent Eat With Your Head to cardboard back in the 1990s; its in the melee of a busy shop, new product campaign, launched in January 2007. Pret’s sandwich ‘bio-box’ and fully recyclable, launches can often be overlooked. Updating approach to eating well is based around the biodegradable salad and cheesecake the look and feel of a shop and its lines in commonsense principles of eating good, boxes were amongst the first of their accordance with seasonal changes can make quality, unadulterated food in moderation. kind in the world. a greater impact on consumers, tying in the The campaign slogan, which appears on changing menu with people’s leanings all sandwich boxes and packaging, is Pret A Manger commissions the Bond towards using seasonal products in the ingrained in the company ethos, reinforcing Street jeweller Tiffany & Co. to make solid silver stars, which are awarded to staff whenever a customer acknowledges 2007 2008 their good service by name. Eat With Your Head, Pret celebrates its In May 2008, Pret’s Pret A Manger’s international expansion preservative-free Pret A Manger’s fleet of 19 electric eating well campaign, with a total of 180 picnic summer menu vans saves more than three tonnes of launches with the shops now in the UK, launches, to be CO emissions a year (compared to slogan rolled out on New York, Hong Kong followed by the all- 2 all sandwich boxes. and Singapore. natural winter menu at diesel vans) and scooped two Green the end of September. Fleet Awards in 2006. 079.