Pret a Manger has unveiled a new range of ‘premium’ lunch offerings targeted at hybrid workers looking to treat themselves on office days – including a salmon salad that starts from £12.95.
The coffee shop chain, which has almost 500 stores across the UK, says its new range of salmon, chicken and butternut squash dishes have been concocted with its in-house nutritionist to meet growing demand for bigger, healthy lunches.
Some of the dishes contain nearly 50 grams of protein and are, according to Pret, nearly 60 per cent bigger than its existing range of salads.
But the range of leafy greens and beans ‘starts from’ £9.95 – rising to £12.95 for the top-of-the-range miso salmon salad.
And prices will be even higher depending on location, with airport and train station branches charging more and 20 per cent VAT slapped on if customers want to eat it in-store.
Reaction to the new dishes has been mixed – with much opinion directed at the near-£13 price point and the ingredients, which include chargrilled chickpeas, quinoa and ‘hand-massaged kale’. Existing salads retail for around £8.
But Pret – which has weathered the outcry after it scrapped its £30-a-month coffee subscription plan and is now being primed for a potential stock market listing – says it has done its homework and sees the salads as its next big hit.
Briony Raven, its chief customer and product officer, told MailOnline that it was ‘perfect’ for anyone ‘quickly grabbing lunch on the go’.
‘This new category is a significant step-change in our lunchtime line-up, which we believe will continue the growth we’ve seen in our existing salads range,’ she added.
A spokesperson added that the price point matched the time it took for workers to put them together, claiming they take longer to prepare than other salads and baguettes.
Pret a Manger has unveiled a new range of ‘super salads’ thought to be targeted at hybrid workers
But reaction to the new menu has been mixed – with much attention given to the £12.95 price point of the miso salmon salad (pictured)
Among the four options is one vegan salad made with roasted butternut squash, priced from £9.95
‘We have ensured our new Super Plates are priced competitively within the market for this type of lunchtime offer,’ the spokesperson added.
The premium dishes will be available at 250 of Pret’s stores across the UK, including major train stations and airports.
But the chain may have its work cut out convincing some diners that the ‘super salads’ are for them, judging by reaction on social media.
‘I’ve not even spent £13 on a salad before in Waitrose. Think I’ll be giving Pret a miss,’ said one user on X.
‘£13? Sod that, buy salad from a supermarket and make a week’s worth for that,’ wrote another.
Another pointed out that £13 is almost £1 more than the minimum wage for adults: the National Living Wage for those aged 21 and over is £12.21 an hour.
Team Member jobs at Pret a Manger are advertised at between £12.26 and £13.51 an hour, according to online job listings.
The chain has been here before: it was roundly criticised for selling a ‘posh’ cheddar cheese and pickle baguette for £7.15 at train stations in 2023 if eaten in. It has since cut the price to £3.99, depending on location.
And irate coffee lovers blasted the firm after it ditched its £30-a-month coffee subscription, which gave subscribers up to five free coffees a day – after hiking the price by £10 since launch.
It had been introduced after the pandemic to entice people back into stores but was suspected to be hugely unprofitable after failing to convince customers to also buy food in store, even with a 20 per cent discount.
Reaction to the dishes has been mixed – with some pointing out the £13 salad costs more than an hour of minimum wage work
A smaller number of people took to social media to defend the pricing of the ‘premium’ product
Pret has weathered similar storms over its pricing before – such as in 2023, when it priced a cheese and pickle baguette at £7.15 when eaten in one of its travel stores
Transaction data provided by Pret to the Office for National Statistics to record Britain’s economic recovery from Covid – the so-called ‘Pret Index’ – appeared to suggest trade was stagnating across the UK in the years after the pandemic, with the exception of train station and airport branches.
But staff had also complained that the sheer number of subscribers demanding their ‘free’ coffee was becoming overwhelming.
Pret eventually forced subscribers to use an ever-changing barcode in their app to claim their coffees after subscribers began sharing their membership with friends.
The firm ultimately scrapped the all-in subscription in September last year and removed the discount, stating that it ‘never got comfortable’ with dual pricing.
It now offers Club Pret as a £5-a-month subscription that gives members up to five half-price barista-prepared drinks such as teas, coffees and smoothies each day.
Pret bosses had been set to hike the price of the plan to £10 a month earlier this year – only to U-turn following an outcry from caffeine-addled fans.
The chain is confident that the new salads can capture a corner of the ‘premium’ lunchtime market amid a long overdue post-pandemic boom in on-the-go food sales brought about by a return to the office.
Sales of ready-to-eat food rose by 13.3 per cent year-on-year to £38.4billion, according to research from analytics firm Kantar published in September 2024.
Salad sales grew the most, by 19.2 per cent – but sandwiches are falling out of favour as workers opt for more adventurous options like sushi.
Experts say the boom is likely down to people returning to the office – with hybrid workers thought to ‘treat’ themselves on the days they leave the house.
Pret hopes its new premium meals will entice hybrid workers to splash some cash as a treat after trade appeared to stagnate following the pandemic (our interactive graphic, below)
The Grocer reported last year that there is an ‘increasing willingness to spend among hybrid workers’, with data suggesting they spend more per visit than frequent office workers.
Some early reaction appeared to align with the chain’s thinking, with one user noting: ‘It’s not a cheap lunch but the quality’s there. Sometimes you want a proper, filling salad and Pret’s nailed the flavours compared to the comp(etition).’
Another added: ‘I’d rather go to Pret and eat that for lunch while working on my laptop than pay over the odds… for a meal deal.’
Pret faces stiff competition in the market from other chains such as Starbucks, Costa and Caffe Nero, as well as so-called gentrification herald Gail’s.
At the same time, it is also battling at the lower end of the scale with the likes of McDonalds and Greggs. It cut the price of its standard filter coffee to 99p last year.
Last month, reports suggested Pret’s private equity owner JAB Holding was eyeing up a stock market listing for the chain.
As the firm operates Prets across the world – including in the US and Europe – the listing could even be in New York rather than London, where there are 273 stores, including one that now offers table service.
A spokesperson for the firm told the FT: ‘As we move closer to a potential IPO [initial public offer], we may evaluate bringing on a pre-IPO investor.’
Pret is not the only chain to look into the trend of people seeking bigger lunches.
A poll of 2,000 adults conducted for McDonalds by OnePoll last month found that one in four Brits skip breakfast on a regular basis.
Of those, 13 per cent wait to break their fast do so because they want a bigger lunch, The Sun reported.
