Pret’s millennial menu makeover to seduce vegans
PRET a Manger is the latest high street chain to have a millennial makeover after announcing the introduction of gluten-free bread, smashed avocado and chilli salt.
The sandwich chain has launched a new menu with eight vegan and five vegetarian options, joining the wave of cafes and restaurants catering for the growing number of those who avoid animal products.
From next Tuesday, Pret customers will find a range of new open sandwiches, salad pots and breakfast items free of meat, fish, dairy and eggs.
The company hailed it as the biggest menu shake-up in the chain’s history.
‘Biggest change in our history’
Pret’s new vegan offerings include smashed avocado on gluten-free bread, a ‘Bang Bang’ broccoli salad and a tropical breakfast bircher.
It is also launching a new vegan salad pot, featuring mushrooms which have been roasted in a sticky tamarind, miso and brown sugar marinade. The additions to its vegetarian line include a Greek salad, humous and roasted peppers on gluten-free bread and a lemon and blueberry cheesecake.
The company boasts that nine months of development went into its gluten-free bread, which ‘combines oat, teff, buckwheat and quinoa flavours with millet, red quinoa, sourdough and a dash of treacle’.
Pret’s head of food development, Hannah Dolan, said: ‘We’re so excited to launch our colourful new spring menu, our biggest change in our history, which is a result of listening to what our customers want. Our team of chefs have taken inspiration from all over the world for this new menu and have worked incredibly hard to perfect each and every ingredient.
‘From flavoursome roasted mushrooms to our own gluten-free bread, which we honestly believe is one of the best out there right now.’ The new menu follows announcements by the likes of Greggs, which launched a vegan sausage roll at the start of the year, and Burger King, which is bringing out a vegan Whopper.
Pret, which was founded in Britain in 1983, has grown to include more than 500 shops in nine countries on the back of a claim to offer natural, fresh, quality food made on the premises. But the company has come under fire for its lack of allergen labelling, which led to the death of teenager Natasha Ednan-Laperouse in 2016.
It was also forced to remove the word ‘natural’ from its logo and packs following revelations it uses some artificial additives in its sandwich bread.
Vegan products are becoming more popular as their ingredients have drastically improved in recent years. In February, Greggs, the UK’s biggest bakery chain, said it had made ‘an exceptionally strong start to 2019’ – claiming that publicity around its vegan sausage rolls had helped boost sales by 10 per cent. Quorn, the firm which produced the filling, has also launched a vegan quarter-pounder said to look, taste and feel like meat.