News is just out that high street sandwich and coffee giant Pret A Manger has bought rival chain EAT in order to expand their Veggie Pret concept. That’s a staggering 94 potential new outlets hitting the high street that are completely meat-free!

 

Not only is this a massive indicator of the future of vegetarian and plant-based food on the high street, but it’s also a clear indicator that moving away from meat and following the changing eating habits of consumers is good for business.

 

How did we get here?

The story of Veggie Pret in itself is also very indicative of the changes to dietary habits as people increasingly put vegetarian and vegan meals into their daily mix.

Currently, there are four Veggie Prets (three in London and one in Manchester), but this was never the plan. The first one opened in Soho, London in 2016 simply as a pop-up concept store, originally planned for just a month or two. I’ll always remember visiting with friends and how excited we were by the concept and quite how significant it was that a company like Pret would see this as an option.

 

Tried their ‘Vegan Mac and Greens’ yet? You really should

The plan was to use the store to trial new veggie and vegan recipes that would then be rolled out into the rest of their stores if popular. But the store never closed. Demand for dishes like their ‘vegan mac and greens’ was off the scale and almost two years on not only is the store still open, it’s about to get a whole lot of new Veggie Pret friends.

 

It’s a ‘Yes!’ from us!

There are so many reasons to cut out meat or meat reduce, for health, the environment, for the animals and more. At ProVeg we work tirelessly to help retailers, consumers and caterers on that journey and we welcome this news with absolute open arms. Lunchtime just got more interesting.