[Gustek]

I used to work at the Pret during my student years. All employees, we were very puzzled by why Pret is so popular and why are they willing to pay so much for the food. Today with a better-paid job, when in the centre and need to get a quick snack, Pret is often my choice. End of the day they have good food and offer good service. You hear many stories about people who used to work for McD and they say they will never eat there again. I can confidently say that at Pret, I did not see any red flags that would make me not eat there.

I wonder how the subscription idea will work for them. Pret is a sandwich shop, but most of the profit comes from coffee. When I used to work there, the price of a coffee was £2, and the cost was £0.20. I guess they expect most people to not max out on the offer, which is probably a reasonable assumption.

At the time, we were told the reason Pret does not offer free coffee after N transactions is because they want to make a customer feel special when they get free coffee. That's why all employees are allowed to give free coffee to anyone at their discretion, just not too many :) Sounds like it is about to change.

[mrkwse]

I guess the coffee deal is mainly to drive footfall. I expect their hope is that when people are deliberating over lunch, those that already have the coffee deal will default to Pret so they don't pay twice for coffee with their sandwich etc.

[philjackson]

That free coffee thing. I used to go to a Pret frequently with one of my female colleagues who happened to be very traditionally attractive. She got a free coffee from male staff every single time.

[chrisseaton]

> All employees, we were very puzzled by why Pret is so popular and why are they willing to pay so much for the food.

What's was puzzling about it? They're reasonably nice and fresh sandwiches in a nice room for not a lot of money. And as you knew yourself it seems clean too.

[ben_w]

Now that I’m a senior software developer, I earn enough that I don’t need to care how much food like this costs.

When I was a student, during term time (rather than the summer holidays when I had a job and lived with my parents), I made a game out of spending as little as possible on food. My record was 50p per day sustained over an entire term in 2004 (adjusted for inflation, that’s about £1 per day today).

Accounting for disposable income rather than gross income, being surprised that students find £4 sandwiches expensive is like being supposed that someone on €60k doesn’t eat every lunch in €100-a-head restaurants. (Those sorts of restaurants are still “fancy special occasions only” for me).

[chrisseaton]

But presumably these people are aware that there are people who aren't living on a pound a day. They can't be genuinely surprised that most people out there can afford a couple of pounds for lunch? They'd have to be ignorant of the basic economic state of the nation to be surprised by this.

[ben_w]

Anchoring bias is a powerful thing. As far as I can tell, most people think of themselves (in the System 1 sense) as representative of normal, no matter how rich or poor they are.

[zelos]

I don't know: as a reasonably well paid software developer I still find the amount people are prepared to pay for lunch surprising. As the article mentions, once you buy coffee+sandwich+pastry+fruit you can easily be over £10, which is something like the price of a new Macbook every year?

[wenc]

Well my rationale is a little different. I tend to buy lunch every day because I like fresh/hot food, I like variety and I like putting money into the local economy (many lower income folks depend on their food service salaries). And I enjoy doing other things with my leisure time than prepping meals.

Nothing wrong with prepping food on the weekends — many find it therapeutic while others do it out of financial need or for dietary reasons - but I personally wouldn’t do it to save a few bucks. I was a poor student for many years, and I’ve had to do it out of need, but I’m glad to be able to live differently now.

[zwaps]

What is the alternative? What is the opportunity cost of doing so?

I'd imagine enough people going there earn enough such that even the price of a new Macbook is not even a thing.

[gowld]

What good is another macbook if you already have one?

I know what good a meal is if I already had one.

[danpalmer]

The sandwiches are twice the price of a supermarket sandwich, and for many (especially students working at Pret) the idea of buying lunch out rather than making it at home and bringing it in may be a luxury.

If you're on £16k a year, spending £1000 for a sandwich every day for lunch is a lot (£4 sandwich * 250 working days).

[himinlomax]

Thing is, for most people living in a large city and on a tight budget, it's not the cost of the ingredients that matters but the facilities to prepare them.

I once worked at a large web company located in the center of Paris and that had a free use kitchen. It took me less time (<1h) to go shopping and cook for a few colleagues than it would have for us to go to a restaurant, and cost the same as buying supermarket sandwiches.

[danpalmer]

Sure, but most people have food prep facilities at home, particularly for those who can't afford to eat out as much, so bringing in food in a lunch box is accessible to most.

[ForHackernews]

> not a lot of money

This is the part that's puzzling to people working minimum wage. Their marginal utility of money is much higher than yours.

[Angostura]

> All employees, we were very puzzled by why Pret is so popular and why are they willing to pay so much for the food.

Because it is consistently good. When I used to work near a Pret I used to really look forward to lunch because it was yummy.

[chiefalchemist]

Or at the very least, consistently not bad. The larger to group, the lower the common denominator. Pret gets the job done. Quickly and conveniently.

There's more to the decision than quality.

[nemo44x]

First time I reluctantly had one of their sandwiches I was pleasantly surprised. I thought it’s be bad being pre-made but it was fresh and well proportioned.

[barrkel]

The only acceptable sandwich lunch is a burger, IMO. These days, even working from home, once a week I ride my motorbike to Netil market to get a burger from the Lucky Chip stall.

I don't understand how people can tolerate buying pre-prepared sandwiches from shops when street markets are an option, fresh hot tasty food cooked right in front of you.

[nemo44x]

I don’t always want hot food for lunch. Sandwiches are great. Pret sandwiches, although pre-made, are quite fresh. Their bread is good and the ingredients are fine. It’s sort of a “just in time” pre-made sandwich.

Definitely overpriced but you’re paying for the convenience too. A burger here are there for lunch is nice too.

[chiefalchemist]

It's like anything else: convenience, quickness, consistency, perception of cleanliness, habits of others around you, and so on.

If it's a group decision - and often enough it is - a place like Pret becomes the acceptable least common denominator. No one might love it, but more importantly no one probably hates it.

[barrkel]

I hate it, and I hate what it stands for. I mentally associaciate Pret with bankers, and I haven't forgetten about 2008.

I'm being facetious, but only just... I work in fintech, and I end up associating with a bunch of bankers, and I give those who still patronize Pret a bit of a hard time.

[chiefalchemist]

I'm not a fan either. But I recently read Jonah Berger's "Invisible Influence." Interesting stuff.

[ivanbakel]

Hot food is invariably more expensive than cold.

[barrkel]

Hot food is invariably more edible than cold...

I'm not so sure on the value front. There's a lot of meat on a typical £5-7 hot meal. You can't generally pay that much for a sandwich, and when you buy a cheaper one, it's miserly.

[bigbizisverywyz]

In the UK I think there's even a VAT rule that hot food must be taxed, but cold food isn't.

It could've changed, but that's what I remember.

[gadders]

I like the Pret food, but their coffee is awful. Worst thing they sell in my opinion. I'm not a coffee snob - I usually drink starbucks - but I hate the Pret version.

[tomduncalf]

Yeah same here, sandwiches are not bad (better than supermarket equivalents, but should be for the price premiuum), but not a fan at all of their coffee at all. Kind of tastes watery and burnt at the same time.

[HenryBemis]

Being an on and off customer since 1998, I was fascinated by the idea that I can walk in and pick a sandwich out of 20-50-100 combinations (I honestly don't remember how many options were available but I remember it as "oh sooooo many!!!".

I treated it as a snack. Once I moved back to London some years back I was (negatively) surprised that MANY people consider lunch to be: "1 sandwich +1 bad of crisps/chips +1 sugary soft drink". I believe that Pret helped push obesity in the UK (and McD, and KFC, and many more - but Pret definitely contributed).

It is sad to see that jobs are on the line, but in all honesty people need to start eating better and stop considering Pret as "the place to get lunch/dinner"

It should be only for a quick lunch for tourists that may want a quick bite before they go from tourist_attraction_A to tourist_attraction_B without spending time and money for lunch.

To the profit point: liquids tend to make most of the profit. Sandwich takes time, effort, material, cost for quality, etc. A coffee (nowadays) is cheap and easy, it won't go bad after 24h. I was reading somewhere (HN? Reuters?) that BP sold 150mil cups of coffee.. easy money for all!

[matthewmacleod]

The idea that what’s essentially a regular sandwich shop (and not one particularly notable for pushing “chips” or “sugary soft drinks”) is in any real way contributing to obesity in the UK is laughable.

[TheOtherHobbes]

It really isn't. Small sandwich + crisps + sugary soda or coffee >= 700 calories, which is around twice what someone sedentary needs for lunch unless they start their day with a decent run. Add a chocolate bar and you're over 800. Start with a bigger roll or a wrap instead of a small sandwich and you're over 900.

It's also a huge carb hit, which is not ideal for staying awake later. And it's low in bulk, which will lead to snacking later.

All of this gets worse as you get older and your metabolism slows down. It's sort-of-ok for someone in their twenties, but literally lethal for someone in their fifties.

Pret are at the better end of the spectrum, and they also sell salad-related items which are less of a problem.

But this kind of sandwich lunch culture in general is a huge contributor to obesity. It doesn't look like a lot of food, it doesn't really fill you up, but it is a lot of calories.

[chrisseaton]

> Small sandwich + crisps + sugary soda or coffee >= 700 calories

What are you on about? That's under a third of the daily recommended calories for a man.

Even if you ate this three times a day... you're going to be under.

> around twice what someone sedentary needs for lunch

So a 350 calorie lunch? So that'd be under half the recommended daily intake total even if you ate a large breakfast. So people living on about 1000 calories a day? How does that work? Most people's weights would be in freefall.

People have weird warped views about how many calories things are. For example did you know if you ate a full McDonald's meal with fries and regular Coca-Cola for every meal... you'd be under your recommended calorie count?

[hnick]

I actually ended up on ~1000 calories a day as a tallish guy. My wife asked me to join her on a meal plan and I forgot to look at the details. It ended up being about 3 meals a day at 300 calories apiece. A month in she let me know that I was meant to be having a 'snack' of another 300 too.

But those weights were for her smaller stature, not mine, and she's always been terrible with numbers (we agree that's my job, so I should've known). I actually got used to it surprisingly quick, and I have to say, it worked and I lost 20kg in a few months without much real discomfort. I cheated one or two meals each week which helped keep me sane.

I mostly stopped because we were cooking certain recipes on the plan and it was just annoying and uninspiring after a while. I did learn a lot about food and how much I actually need if I'm just sitting around some days. But I don't think my 1000 calorie diet was healthy or recommended and a lighter touch is probably better.

[chrisseaton]

> how much I actually need if I'm just sitting around some days

If you're a sedentary person then maybe it worked for you, but it's under half what medical professionals recommend for a normally active man. Many somewhat active people (less than an hour run a day) are going to burn half your calorie intake on exercise alone. You do need some calories to simply live and think beyond that.

I think people are out of their minds saying a shop selling 400 calorie sandwiches for probably your main meal of the day is excessive.

[matthewmacleod]

It really isn't. Small sandwich + crisps + sugary soda or coffee >= 700 calories, which is around twice what someone sedentary needs for lunch unless they start their day with a decent run. Add a chocolate bar and you're over 800. Start with a bigger roll or a wrap instead of a small sandwich and you're over 900.

Basically what you're saying is "eating too much food is bad" which… well, obviously. If you are eating a large sandwich, crisps, a sugary drink, and a chocolate bar for lunch… isn't it obvious that's too much? Eat a regular-sized sandwich, some popcorn, and a banana – like all the people who went to the Pret next to my office did pretty frequently.

literally lethal for someone in their fifties.

This is quite funny. "Sandwich culture is lethal to the over-50s".

[genmon]

Yup -- I was really surprised when I started looking at the nutrition labels on Pret food. High calories, tons of mayo. Not great.

[lozenge]

Their avocado and herb salad wrap should be called cheese and avocado wrap. It's all high in fat, sugar and salt

[HenryBemis]

To quote Tesco: "every little helps".

I like to eat at Farmer J's. Decent food (quality/quantity), costs around £8. A "lunch" (laugh/cry) on Pret costs £3? £4? People that spent £10-20 per day to commute, £3-5 on dry cleaning, £6-8 for x2 coffees, will try to squeeze every penny. So yes they may go to Pret and save £4 from their "lunch".

I don't blame the shop, they don't sell heroin, they sell sandwiches. I merely focused on the fact that people see it at a "source for nutrition". The fault is to both sides. People prefer the tasty quick-fix (salt/sugar) instead of a balanced nutritional lunch. The Pret is positioning itself in every other block for convenience. The people (especially in the square mile and Canary Wharf) are overworked, stressed, and they need the quick bite/fix and then run back to work. I've heard a million times the line "I got no time and/or money to spend for a normal/decent lunch".

It is a mixture of the above. Plus the revolution of caffeine (no need to eat and sleep well - coffee will fix everything, will keep us going).

So yes, a "sandwich shop" (aka fast food) is also to blame partially (just as McD, KFC, etc.)

It is a hydra with a thousand heads, and COVID helped cut some of them, show how we can thrive with a different lifestyle.

People work from home. They will eat (hopefully) better, caffeine/sugar consuption (I hope) is reduced, the work is done, people will spend 1-2-3h less on trains/buses that they can spend with their loved ones (or sleep).

And yes, a sandwich shop (in every bloody corner) selling cheap junkfood 'packaged' (offered) with fried salty junk (crisps) and sugar (soft drinks) DOES contribute to obesity. Thinking that it doesn't is illogical. It's not a discussion on causality/coincidence.

[matthewmacleod]

And yes, a sandwich shop (in every bloody corner) selling cheap junkfood 'packaged' (offered) with fried salty junk (crisps) and sugar (soft drinks) DOES contribute to obesity. Thinking that it doesn't is illogical. It's not a discussion on causality/coincidence.

I'll leave the fight-club fantasy to one side, but point out that a sandwich from Pret is basically some bread, some salad, and some protein. It's fine. If this is where you're starting as a contributor to obesity, then literally all food is obesogenic.

[082349872349872]

> they need the quick bite/fix and then run back to work.

A different stable equilibrium: shutting the country down during 90 minutes for the midday repast.

(Are the two coffees liquid substitutes for the 10 o'clock and 4 o'clock? What about tea ladies? Are they no longer a thing?)