today, Veggie Pret—the vegetarian outlet of fast-casual chain Pret A Manger—will add a vegan bakery counter to all of its 10 locations across the United Kingdom. Alongside its existing vegan options, Veggie Pret will offer a variety of new vegan baked goods, including three croissants, two brownies, and three muffins. “We’re really proud to be the first high street food-to-go retailer to launch a unique concept like this,” Pret UK Managing Director Clare Clough said. “Expanding Veggie Pret’s offering for our vegan customers has been a huge focus of our food development over the last year and moving to an entire vegan bakery is very much the result of that. Our previous vegan bakery products, like the Dark Chocolate & Almond Butter Cookie and The Very Berry Croissant have always been big hits with customers—vegan and non-vegan alike.”
In January, Pret A Manger added The Very Berry Croissant (its first vegan croissant) to the menu at all of its UK locations after offering it at Veggie Pret outlets. “In the first few weeks of The Very Berry Croissant being on sale, it sold more than double the amount per day of the non-vegan jam croissant it replaced—so we can’t wait to hear what our customers think of these new treats,” Clough said.
In 2015, Pret CEO Clive Schlee discovered a growing demand for meat-free and vegan options and first tested the concept of a Veggie Pret pop-up in Soho in 2016—which was so well-received that Schlee made the location permanent before expanding the concept into 10 vegetarian locations and installing vegetarian-only fridges in regular Pret locations across the United Kingdom.