Pret cuts back on Veggie brand as four speciality branches close

The chain said the decision was driven by the fact vegetarian options were now widely available at all its stores

Pret A Manger is closing the majority of its vegetarian-only stores after seeing a low demand in the spin-off.

Out of the 10 green outlets, five have closed down or rebranded into a regular Pret, including one in Canary Wharf.

Two other Veggie Prets in Exmouth Market and Manchester’s Deansgates are being monitored on their demand in the area, but they are also expected to transition to a regular Pret.

Pret announced today that just two of their branches in Shoreditch and Soho will continue to operate under the title.

According to The Vegan Society, the number of vegans in the UK has quadrupled between 2014 and 2019, with around 600,000 Britons now on a plant-based diet, equivalent to more than 1 per cent of the population.

Pret said the decision was driven by the fact vegetarian options were now widely available at all its stores, giving customers less reason to seek out the specialist shops.

A spokesman said: “Over half of our menu is vegetarian or vegan, with meat-free and vegan options accounting for 1 in 3 of our main meals sales.”

Meat-free items include smoky carrot and falafel sandwiches, hummus and chipotle wraps, and beet wellington baguettes.

Veggie Pret started in 2016 (PA)

Veggie Prets started as a pop-up in Soho in 2016 but after proving popular among customers, it was upgraded to a permanent fixture. The original branch sold salad super bowls and “plant pots”, among other items.

At its peak, there were 10 Veggie Pret’s across the country and the company had planned to convert the majority of Eat stores into Veggie Prets after buying the rival chain in 2019. Those plans were halted by the onset of the pandemic before being scrapped.

The Pret spokesman added: “Our focus now is to keep growing our extensive vegetarian and vegan offer in every Pret shop, so we’ve decided to convert or close some of our current Veggie Prets.”

The remaining two Veggie Prets “will continue to develop new vegan and vegetarian options to be rolled out to our classic Prets,” the spokesman added.