Pret temporarily removing vegan options

[Zero]

When I went into the local Pret the other day I was disapointed to see that they were not carrying the Houmous Salad Sandwich, No Bread Mezze or the Health and Houmous Salad anymore. When I asked the guy in the store, he didn't know when or if they were coming back.

So the only vegan things left are the Veggie Sushi, fruit, some of the crisps and the a couple of the soups on certain days. (fyi some of their items don't actually say they are vegan in the store but the website does)

I wrote to them to ask about this and outlined that myself and many other vegans appreciate that Pret is normally one of the few places we can go to get quality vegan food on the go and that I hoped they would would bring these options back or create new ones.

They sent me a nice email back letting me know that these menu items have been removed because of the Christmas food they are selling at the moment, and they will return in January.
They said that they would pass my comments on to marketing team and thanked me for my comments.

Perhaps if a few more of you that buy food from Pret write explaining that you miss the vegan menu items it might encourage them to rethink removing a number of our options and make them further consider what a large consumer group we are.
They have always been good in the past but this current situation kind of disapoints me.

http://www.pret.com/customer_services/


(Wasn't sure whether to put this under Letter Writing or Food, but I guess it falls into both so I will let admin decide)

[harpy]

I'll write. It's not my favourite place because of the McDonald's connection but they are a useful standby in "emergencies". In fact I was in one the other day and noticed that the veggie sushi was the only thing they had that seemed to be vegan.

ETA when I emailed them I pointed out it was Christmas for vegans too

[Zero]

Yeah the McDonalds connection bothers me too but it at least proves that the vegan lifestyle is thriving. Lets face it McDonalds are big investers these days they probably have more fingers in more pies than we know about, they seem to be opening less McDonalds stores and focusing on other aspects of their business lately.

I feel it is important that these mainstream vegan items are mantained.

I am glad you are writing to them .

It's funny, a friend of mine wanted to go into a McDonalds to get a cup of coffee but I told them there was no way I was going to set foot inside one of those places so we went elsewhere lol.

[Marrers]

How disappointing. Thanks for letting us know Zero. I'll be making my views known (have already had communications with someone there about another issue so will use that email address).
And yes harpy, they could have created a vegan xmas sandwich instead - good point.

[flying plum]

i noticed this at stansted airport a few weeks ago. that houmous sandwich was a great breakfast when i knew i wasn't going to get anything vegan for some time

booooooo, pret! although, i haven't actually bought anything from there for ages...ended up in starbucks at standsted - i think that might be worse!

amanda

[Gorilla]

i don't buy food from Pret really but i'm going to complain anyway.

[AnneCE]

I use Pret in emergencies - maybe 6 times a year - and so I've complained.

As an alternative, Boots has a new vegan sandwich - they withdrew their hummus and grated carrot ages ago and there was nothing for months - now they have one which has tofu and chilli jam (sweet chilli sauce I would call it). It's nice enough.

I prefer not to buy from either but sometimes, am stuck and it's better than nothing. Just having a vegan option in their shops makes veganism a bit more visible and possible.

[Joeybee]

That's really annoying, I have realised there is a Pret round the corner from my uni and was planning on going in there at lunch times to get a sandwich! I'm going to have to find somewhere else now!

[Zero]

As an alternative, Boots has a new vegan sandwich - they withdrew their hummus and grated carrot ages ago and there was nothing for months - now they have one which has tofu and chilli jam (sweet chilli sauce I would call it). It's nice enough.

Sounds cool and innovative. I will have to check that out.

[Gorilla]

i haven't bought anything in Boots for a while but they definitely had the Bugsy sandwich in London branches within the last couple of months. is the new tofu one also the Fresh Organics brand?

[Sluggie]

That's a shame. I love the no-bread mezze. At least it's only temporary (I hope).

[Cumin]

AnneCE, I had a bugsy one only the other day from a Boots, so perhaps this withdrawal you have seen is just a local thing.
I'll also be writing to Pret as I'd noticed the lack of vegan options recently too.

[AnneCE]

Has anyone heard from Pret yet? I got a reply last night - it was sent twice and then an e-mail recalling it. This is the text:

Hi Anne,

We've made some significant changes to the way some of our shops operate (we've done
this to a number of our shops). A number of shops are now a 'Local Pret'.
Customers enjoy 'local Pret' in a different way to the 'takeaway' Pret; they chill
out, sit in comfort, chat, gossip and read newspapers.

We refined the menu in order to reduce the amount of food that ends up in the bin at
the end of the day. Our shop teams now concentrate their efforts on making the most
popular sandwiches, salads, wraps and baguettes. As a result of this, the ranges we
can offer have had to change slightly too as all our food is made fresh on site
every day. In addition, it is true that during specific seasons some pre-existing
products will be replaced with the new seasonal alternative.

I hope we haven't upset you too much. We do review our menus regularly and we will
monitor customer feedback on these changes. Thanks again for contacting us about
this.

Regards,

Rose.

Seems like a stock reply, no reference to vegan products at all. I'll wait till Monday to see if I get a proper reply and if not, will contact them again.

[alisont]

Pret was on my list of 'places to find vegan option when out with work' but yesterday when out with students i went to baguette de monde - it does alter between branches but one of the 8 or so Birmingham branches (paradise forum) does houmous bagettue with caramalised oninon and grated carrot - they tell me the bread is vegan there, its cheap and cheerful and they do veggie chili in a jacket (i need to email them to find out if its vegan) they also had a juice bar. Much cheaper than Pret too. And they did 10% student discount.

I only used pret on rare occasions, but do feel annoyed about the recent lack of vegan options. I must get round to emailing them.

[Marrers]

Seems like a deliberately vague reply AnneCE. I also got a reply but did not post as it was not useful - thought I needed to reply to get more specific response, but now I see what has been said above . . .

Hi Marrers

Thanks for your email.

Which shops do you visit most often and have not been finding anything vegan - either the sandwich or the Mezze?

Some of our menus have changed but if I knew which shops you visited I could probably answer in a more detailed way fo ryou.

Kind Regards
Janet

Looks like our days of being able to rely on Pret wherever you are have gone.

[Zero]

This is the reply I got after writing to them, it's a lot different from what they told you (I didn't post it originally because I was at work when I started this thread):


Hello Phil,

Many thanks for your email.

We have changed our menu around for the Christmas Period. We should bring back the missed ones in January.

I do apologize for the inconvenience.

Thanks a lot for giving us feed backs - we really do appreciate them. I will forward them to our Marketing team for their appreciation.

Hope this will help.

Caroline

[Zero]

Looks like our days of being able to rely on Pret wherever you are have gone.

Indeed, that could be the case.

[harpy]

I got the same reply as Anne. I wrote back to say that I wasn't at all upset but just wouldn't be going there much any more

[Marrers]

I've replied to say which branches I normally use but also enquired about the general situation. The main benefit for me was knowing I could get something to eat wherever I was in London or elsewhere in the country if there was a Pret.

[Mr Flibble]

Not that I've ever been in a situation where I've been unable to survive off the only food I've been able to find (which has probably never been less nutricious than the majority of the world's population has to eat); I think I'd rather starve for 48 hours than eat at mcdonalds personally

[Risker]

If all their food is made 'fresh on site every day' does that mean you could request in advance that they make you something?

[Soyalicious]

I know for a fact that their food is not made on site everyday fresh and it's delivered, as I used to work near the High St Kensington branch and see their food being delivered, pre-packed around 5am every morning when I was on a night shift next door.

[Cumin]

I think it must vary from branch to branch, as the one I used to frequent in Cambridge had a little window in the door at the back through which you could see people with piles of sliced bread, fillings etc making the sandwiches.

[harpy]

Ah, but they don't say which site, do they?

[Marrers]

While lurking on the street waiting for someone I've seen a bloke wheeling a big cage / trolley of Pret sarnies in central London from one site (which was not open to the public) to one of the shops some doors down. He then took the trolley on, presumably to another nearby shop.
I guess some of the central London stores are small and don't have room to make them all on site. But I have had sandwiches made for me on the spot when they had run out so they must have some kitchen space and some ingredients.

[harpy]

Maybe they just mean "on our own premises rather than someone else's factory". Not sure if there's a legal definition of "on site"?

[Zero]

I have always found the sandwiches to be very fresh so I am not really concerned.

[Marrers]

Many thanks for getting back to me.

In some of our shops like our Bromley and Kingston shops we have changed our menus a little. Let me tell you a little more about why we’ve made these changes in an attempt to reassure you that there is some method behind our apparent madness!

We’ve made some significant changes to the way some of our shops like Bromley and Kingston operate. These shops are now ‘Local Prets’. Customers enjoy ‘local Pret’ in a different way to the ‘takeaway’ Pret; they chill out, sit in comfort, chat, gossip and read newspapers. Local Prets are soft and relaxed with a refined menu, china cups and plates, comfy sofas, cushions and wooden floors.

We refined the menu at the same time in order to reduce the amount of food that ends up in the bin at the end of the day. Our shop teams now concentrate their efforts on making the most popular sandwiches, salads, wraps and baguettes.
I hope we haven’t upset you too much. We do review our menus regularly and we will monitor customer feedback on these changes. Thanks again for contacting us about this.

Not all, but many of our shops in London do still sell the No Bread Mezze as well as the humous sandwich and salad. Carnaby Street sells the sandwich and salad but as they are one of our Test shops we have also delisted the No Bread Mezze while they concentrate on products we are trialling. In the new year one of these test will be a No Bread Falafel salad which at the moment is a vegan recipe. I do hope you get a chance to try it and let us know what you think.

I'm sorry you are finding it a little tricky to find what you are after and I hope I have explained a little more what our plans have been and will be.

Kind Regards
Janet

[Zero]

I have a feeling that the vegan options, are not going to return, hopefully the falafel salad they mentioned will stay vegan. If not I will probably quit going there.

[aubergine]

As an alternative, Boots has a new vegan sandwich ... which has tofu and chilli jam (sweet chilli sauce I would call it)

I couldn't find it in my local Boots. Is it in their own packaging?

[Orange-powered]

I had that sandwich the other day when I was in Cambridge, its ok its different anyway, but I dont think I'm a huge fan of that kind of smoked tofu -Its in the Fresh! packaging.

[AnneCE]

I've seen the Bugsy sandwich back in a couple of Edinburgh branches of Boots. Inspires me to grab some carrots and grate them to make better sandwiches myself
Both their vegan sandwiches are handy for those days I find myself out without any food with me and it is good that a major retailer gives vegans a choice! But neither worth going out of my way for.

[Zero]

The Boots stores near me are now carrying both of those Vegan sandwiches, I really like the Smoked Tofu one, so that has become my new place to go to if I need to grab a sandwich. I haven't been going anywhere near pret, I guess I won't unless I feel like having one of their soups that are vegan or the veggie sushi.

[bryzee86]

There is a tofu Fresh! sandwich? I've never seen that one!

And pret do vegan sushi?

[Zero]

Yeah, the veggie sushi is vegan I confirmed it with them and it states it on their website.

[Marrers]

Today I saw a houmous salad sandwich in the Pret near East Croydon station and the one on Broadwick Street (by Lexington St) in Soho.

[harpy]

That's good - must admit I haven't been in a Pret since I had that e-mail back from them. I almost tried the one at Seven Dials in Covent Garden the other day, but decided to go to the vegan-friendly caff in Foyle's instead.

[Crafterga]

We tried Prets in Cambridge on Sunday (The only veggie cafe in Cambridge Rainbow, is closed on a Sunday). No vegan butties in sight!
Went next door to EAT and had a wonderful sandwich with humous carrot and ginger on seeded Rye bread! Delicious. Know where I'll go next time!
Another customer lost Pret!

[bryzee86]

The one near London Bridge had the vegan houmous sarnie the other day - alongside the christmas stuff. The boots around the corner had both buhsy and the new tofu 'Fresh!' brand sandwiches.

[Zero]

I have given up on Pret now, I went in there today just to have a look and they had nothing vegan in the sandwiches or salads.

You just have to applaud boots though 2 vegan sandwiches! The meal deal with a number of snacks and drinks that are vegan.
I think I am going to write to tell them that as a vegan I appreciate that they are carrying these options. A little positive reinforcement couldn't hurt