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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

#151

Post by tomduncalf »

gadders wrote: post #134
Gustek wrote: post #40

I used to work at the Pret during my student years. All employees, we were very puzzled by why Pret is so popular and why are they willing to pay so much for the food. Today with a better-paid job, when in the centre and need to get a quick snack, Pret is often my choice. End of the day they have good food and offer good service. You hear many stories about people who used to work for McD and they say they will never…

I like the Pret food, but their coffee is awful. Worst thing they sell in my opinion. I'm not a coffee snob - I usually drink starbucks - but I hate the Pret version.

Yeah same here, sandwiches are not bad (better than supermarket equivalents, but should be for the price premiuum), but not a fan at all of their coffee at all. Kind of tastes watery and burnt at the same time.

Re: The Rise and Fall of Pret a Manger

#152

Post by zelos »

chrisseaton wrote: post #138
ben_w wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Now that I’m a senior software developer, I earn enough that I don’t need to care how much food like this costs. When I was a student, during term time (rather than the summer holidays when I had a job and lived with my parents), I made a game out of spending as little as possible on food. My record was 50p per day sustained over an entire term in 2004 (adjusted for inflation, that’s about £1 per day today). Accounti…

But presumably these people are aware that there are people who aren't living on a pound a day. They can't be genuinely surprised that most people out there can afford a couple of pounds for lunch? They'd have to be ignorant of the basic economic state of the nation to be surprised by this.

I don't know: as a reasonably well paid software developer I still find the amount people are prepared to pay for lunch surprising. As the article mentions, once you buy coffee+sandwich+pastry+fruit you can easily be over £10, which is something like the price of a new Macbook every year?

Re: The Rise and Fall of Pret a Manger

#153

Post by chiefalchemist »

barrkel wrote: post #137
Gustek wrote: post #40

I used to work at the Pret during my student years. All employees, we were very puzzled by why Pret is so popular and why are they willing to pay so much for the food. Today with a better-paid job, when in the centre and need to get a quick snack, Pret is often my choice. End of the day they have good food and offer good service. You hear many stories about people who used to work for McD and they say they will never…

The only acceptable sandwich lunch is a burger, IMO. These days, even working from home, once a week I ride my motorbike to Netil market to get a burger from the Lucky Chip stall. I don't understand how people can tolerate buying pre-prepared sandwiches from shops when street markets are an option, fresh hot tasty food cooked right in front of you.

It's like anything else: convenience, quickness, consistency, perception of cleanliness, habits of others around you, and so on.

If it's a group decision - and often enough it is - a place like Pret becomes the acceptable least common denominator. No one might love it, but more importantly no one probably hates it.

Re: The Rise and Fall of Pret a Manger

#154

Post by chiefalchemist »

Angostura wrote: post #135
Gustek wrote: post #40

I used to work at the Pret during my student years. All employees, we were very puzzled by why Pret is so popular and why are they willing to pay so much for the food. Today with a better-paid job, when in the centre and need to get a quick snack, Pret is often my choice. End of the day they have good food and offer good service. You hear many stories about people who used to work for McD and they say they will never…

> All employees, we were very puzzled by why Pret is so popular and why are they willing to pay so much for the food. Because it is consistently good. When I used to work near a Pret I used to really look forward to lunch because it was yummy.

Or at the very least, consistently not bad. The larger to group, the lower the common denominator. Pret gets the job done. Quickly and conveniently.

There's more to the decision than quality.

Re: The Rise and Fall of Pret a Manger

#155

Post by briancl »

saberience wrote: post #124
twic wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I'm not sure I agree with this AT ALL. I've spent most of my adult life split between New York (5+ years), California (5+ years), and also Berlin and Paris for a few years. I'm originally British and live in London now. I've eaten sandwiches in all of these countries (obviously). Pret's sandwiches hold up to any sandwiches I've had in any of those countries. I've had the occasional better sandwich (especially in Pari…

I don’t understand why “pre-made sandwiches” are a common occurrence. Occasionally necessary, sure.

On an average day, if I don’t have 5-10 minutes to wait for a freshly made sandwich, I’ve gone wrong.

Re: The Rise and Fall of Pret a Manger

#156

Post by sagichmal »

saberience wrote: post #124
twic wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I'm not sure I agree with this AT ALL. I've spent most of my adult life split between New York (5+ years), California (5+ years), and also Berlin and Paris for a few years. I'm originally British and live in London now. I've eaten sandwiches in all of these countries (obviously). Pret's sandwiches hold up to any sandwiches I've had in any of those countries. I've had the occasional better sandwich (especially in Pari…

Pret sandwiches are airport food, it's incoherent to suggest they're comparable to the sandwich you can get in from bodega deli counter in New York.

Re: The Rise and Fall of Pret a Manger

#157

Post by nemo44x »

barrkel wrote: post #137
Gustek wrote: post #40

I used to work at the Pret during my student years. All employees, we were very puzzled by why Pret is so popular and why are they willing to pay so much for the food. Today with a better-paid job, when in the centre and need to get a quick snack, Pret is often my choice. End of the day they have good food and offer good service. You hear many stories about people who used to work for McD and they say they will never…

The only acceptable sandwich lunch is a burger, IMO. These days, even working from home, once a week I ride my motorbike to Netil market to get a burger from the Lucky Chip stall. I don't understand how people can tolerate buying pre-prepared sandwiches from shops when street markets are an option, fresh hot tasty food cooked right in front of you.

I don’t always want hot food for lunch. Sandwiches are great. Pret sandwiches, although pre-made, are quite fresh. Their bread is good and the ingredients are fine. It’s sort of a “just in time” pre-made sandwich.

Definitely overpriced but you’re paying for the convenience too. A burger here are there for lunch is nice too.

Re: The Rise and Fall of Pret a Manger

#158

Post by nemo44x »

chiefalchemist wrote: post #154
Angostura wrote: post #135

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. Because it is consistently good. When I used to work near a Pret I used to really look forward to lunch because it was yummy.

Or at the very least, consistently not bad. The larger to group, the lower the common denominator. Pret gets the job done. Quickly and conveniently. There's more to the decision than quality.

First time I reluctantly had one of their sandwiches I was pleasantly surprised. I thought it’s be bad being pre-made but it was fresh and well proportioned.

Re: The Rise and Fall of Pret a Manger

#159

Post by nemo44x »

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…

A friend of mine from France was here in the USA and we got sandwiches. When he opened his he was shocked and disappointed on the overstuffed size of it. “What is this? How can someone eat this? This is ridiculous” Or words to that effect. He was genuinely confused by the size. And couldn’t believe how terrible the bread was.

To be fair they weren’t great sandwiches in general. I sort of agree with him though that a French proportion on a jambon buerre is better than a typical ham and cheese sandwich here.

Re: The Rise and Fall of Pret a Manger

#160

Post by bigbizisverywyz »

ivanbakel wrote: post #140
barrkel wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only acceptable sandwich lunch is a burger, IMO. These days, even working from home, once a week I ride my motorbike to Netil market to get a burger from the Lucky Chip stall. I don't understand how people can tolerate buying pre-prepared sandwiches from shops when street markets are an option, fresh hot tasty food cooked right in front of you.

Hot food is invariably more expensive than cold.

In the UK I think there's even a VAT rule that hot food must be taxed, but cold food isn't.

It could've changed, but that's what I remember.

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