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The Rise and Fall of Pret a Manger

wired.co.uk

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Re: The Rise and Fall of Pret a Manger

#141

Post by lkramer »

I never understood the British sandwich culture. I'm currently living and working London and the number of times people will just go for a quick sandwich, which typically means some depressing mayo filled abomination with a packet of crisps and a softdrink is depressing when there are genuinely nice places to have lunch, for not much more.

What is even more mind boggling is when you work with British people abroad at places with genuinely great food culture, like Tokyo or Singapore, and they then lament that there is 'no where around to get decent sandwich`, by which they mean their industrially produced cardboard tasting abomination, since typically you can get actually good sandwiches in those places as well as a variety of other thing.

Re: The Rise and Fall of Pret a Manger

#142

Post by lozenge »

genmon wrote: post #115
TheOtherHobbes wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It really isn't. Small sandwich + crisps + sugary soda or coffee >= 700 calories, which is around twice what someone sedentary needs for lunch unless they start their day with a decent run. Add a chocolate bar and you're over 800. Start with a bigger roll or a wrap instead of a small sandwich and you're over 900. It's also a huge carb hit, which is not ideal for staying awake later. And it's low in bulk, which will l…

Yup -- I was really surprised when I started looking at the nutrition labels on Pret food. High calories, tons of mayo. Not great.

Their avocado and herb salad wrap should be called cheese and avocado wrap. It's all high in fat, sugar and salt

Re: The Rise and Fall of Pret a Manger

#143

Post by chrisseaton »

hnick wrote: post #139
chrisseaton wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Small sandwich + crisps + sugary soda or coffee >= 700 calories What are you on about? That's under a third of the daily recommended calories for a man. Even if you ate this three times a day... you're going to be under. > around twice what someone sedentary needs for lunch So a 350 calorie lunch? So that'd be under half the recommended daily intake total even if you ate a large breakfast. So people living on about…

I actually ended up on ~1000 calories a day as a tallish guy. My wife asked me to join her on a meal plan and I forgot to look at the details. It ended up being about 3 meals a day at 300 calories apiece. A month in she let me know that I was meant to be having a 'snack' of another 300 too. But those weights were for her smaller stature, not mine, and she's always been terrible with numbers (we agree that's my job, s…

> how much I actually need if I'm just sitting around some days

If you're a sedentary person then maybe it worked for you, but it's under half what medical professionals recommend for a normally active man. Many somewhat active people (less than an hour run a day) are going to burn half your calorie intake on exercise alone. You do need some calories to simply live and think beyond that.

I think people are out of their minds saying a shop selling 400 calorie sandwiches for probably your main meal of the day is excessive.

Re: The Rise and Fall of Pret a Manger

#144

Post by himinlomax »

danpalmer wrote: post #128
chrisseaton wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> All employees, we were very puzzled by why Pret is so popular and why are they willing to pay so much for the food. What's was puzzling about it? They're reasonably nice and fresh sandwiches in a nice room for not a lot of money. And as you knew yourself it seems clean too.

The sandwiches are twice the price of a supermarket sandwich, and for many (especially students working at Pret) the idea of buying lunch out rather than making it at home and bringing it in may be a luxury. If you're on £16k a year, spending £1000 for a sandwich every day for lunch is a lot (£4 sandwich * 250 working days).

Thing is, for most people living in a large city and on a tight budget, it's not the cost of the ingredients that matters but the facilities to prepare them.

I once worked at a large web company located in the center of Paris and that had a free use kitchen. It took me less time (<1h) to go shopping and cook for a few colleagues than it would have for us to go to a restaurant, and cost the same as buying supermarket sandwiches.

Re: The Rise and Fall of Pret a Manger

#145

Post by mahesh_rm »

lkramer wrote: post #141

I never understood the British sandwich culture. I'm currently living and working London and the number of times people will just go for a quick sandwich, which typically means some depressing mayo filled abomination with a packet of crisps and a softdrink is depressing when there are genuinely nice places to have lunch, for not much more. What is even more mind boggling is when you work with British people abroad at…

It is not clear to me whether you are referring to Pret's sandwiches. I am not British, but when in London for work I tend to love Pret's. I found their offering healthier and tastier than basically any other fast food alternative in any other place in the world.

Re: The Rise and Fall of Pret a Manger

#146

Post by dageshi »

lkramer wrote: post #141

I never understood the British sandwich culture. I'm currently living and working London and the number of times people will just go for a quick sandwich, which typically means some depressing mayo filled abomination with a packet of crisps and a softdrink is depressing when there are genuinely nice places to have lunch, for not much more. What is even more mind boggling is when you work with British people abroad at…

For some people, perhaps a lot of people, many meals are just fuel. Those sandwiches are an acceptable unit of fuel, they come in an acceptable variety at acceptable prices and can be bought in an acceptable amount of time.

You don't have to make decisions about what to order, you don't have to queue (or at least not for very long), it's acceptable fuel.

Re: The Rise and Fall of Pret a Manger

#147

Post by pbowyer »

twic wrote: post #114
crazygringo wrote: post #19

As an American, I've always been so confused by Pret's sandwiches. Specifically, how they're like 95% bread. Seriously. You get their "famous ham and cheese" and it's a mini baguette with like a single layer of ham and cheese. Like the ham and cheese is a condiment, rather than filling. It's a stretch to call what they sell "sandwiches". It's closer to just flavored bread. And remember -- it's not just sugar that inc…

Sandwiches in the UK are a scandal. Pret got huge in part because their sandwiches we so much better than the other options. Imagine that! When Pret launched, your options were a packet sandwich from Boots or something, which would be stale sliced bread with a single layer of tasteless waxy cheese, or something from a sandwich shop, where the choices are (1) tuna mayonnaise that has been there since yesterday (2) a c…

Your comment made me laugh out loud. It's so true, and even worse in the regions than in London.

As with most things in the UK, price comes before quality. Sainsburys, who used to be my "Thank God there's an okay sandwich" place when on the road switched to a lower quality supplier, to an online backlash [1]. I can vouch for the quality drop; after that there wasn't much difference between the major supermarkets.

1. https://www.thegrocer.co.uk/sainsburys-moved-supplier-before...

Re: The Rise and Fall of Pret a Manger

#148

Post by beck5 »

I would love to see pret move out a bit further where people live and WFH, or even have a delivery truck which works the local area.

My partner and myself both WFH in Peckham, we would love to buy a couple of sandwiches and coffees from pret via an app. We get the occasional falafel wrap on just eat but there are not enough quick delivery options for healthyish lunches.

Re: The Rise and Fall of Pret a Manger

#149

Post by Accacin »

lkramer wrote: post #141

I never understood the British sandwich culture. I'm currently living and working London and the number of times people will just go for a quick sandwich, which typically means some depressing mayo filled abomination with a packet of crisps and a softdrink is depressing when there are genuinely nice places to have lunch, for not much more. What is even more mind boggling is when you work with British people abroad at…

What's to understand? I saw people at lunch eating wrapped rice things in Japan from the 7/11 which weren't that great compared to other places I could eat (especially the 'fresh' ones which were easy to find), but people still ate them.

In Singapore there were amazing food centers, and I saw Singaporeans eating at McDonald's! Why were they doing that when there were so many good options about?

I've never understood why people are so judgemental about what others eat.

Re: The Rise and Fall of Pret a Manger

#150

Post by hnick »

chrisseaton wrote: post #143
hnick wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually ended up on ~1000 calories a day as a tallish guy. My wife asked me to join her on a meal plan and I forgot to look at the details. It ended up being about 3 meals a day at 300 calories apiece. A month in she let me know that I was meant to be having a 'snack' of another 300 too. But those weights were for her smaller stature, not mine, and she's always been terrible with numbers (we agree that's my job, s…

> how much I actually need if I'm just sitting around some days If you're a sedentary person then maybe it worked for you, but it's under half what medical professionals recommend for a normally active man. Many somewhat active people (less than an hour run a day) are going to burn half your calorie intake on exercise alone. You do need some calories to simply live and think beyond that. I think people are out of the…

I did go to the gym occasionally, but it was more along the lines of pilates type stuff. Also walked the dog each day. So nothing crazy but I wasn't just sitting around.

Somehow I wasn't even underweight when I stopped, but in another couple of month I probably would've been. There is of course a good chance the calorie counting was wrong too.

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