Creating natural food without preservatives

EMIRATES BUSINESS

In 1986, Pret A Manger opened the doors of its very first shop, in London, UK. Pret’s founders Julian Metcalfe and Sinclair Beecham were on a mission to create handmade, natural food, avoiding the obscure chemicals, additives and preservatives common to so much of the ‘prepared’ and fast food on the market. A fresh and healthy menu greeted customers and Pret’s good, natural food crusade began.
Since day one, Pret has operated a bit like a restaurant. Every shop is built with a kitchen on-site (or very close by). None of Pret’s fresh sandwiches, baguettes, salads or hot items carry ‘sell-by’ dates. They’re all handmade every day in the kitchens using carefully sourced, quality, natural ingredients, and are sold that day. Any items that aren’t sold in the UK and many of Pret’s other markets are donated to charities supporting the homeless at the end of each day. In 2014 Pret donated nearly 3 million food items across the UK alone.
Nick Candler, Chief Operating Officer at Pret A Manger, said, “Our new shop in Dubai International has been an exciting venture for us. This is the first time Pret has opened in the UAE and it presents a great opportunity for us to continue to grow within the airport and the region. The shop is out-performing all of our expectations and we have been receiving very positive feedback from our customers — both those who know Pret already, and those who are experiencing Pret for the first time. We believe this is the start of a great partnership between Pret, Emirates Leisure Retail and Dubai International Airport.”
Today Pret A Manger is still a private company, with the same values. There are now over 400 Prets worldwide with shops in the UK, USA, France, Hong Kong, Shanghai and now Dubai. Around 3 million customers are served weekly around the world, with Pret’s baristas making nearly 1.3 million coffees every week!
The company’s first UAE shop comes as Pret celebrates its 30th year as a pioneer of natural food and organic coffee.
Located just past duty-free in Concourse D, the shop is in a prime position to cater for many of the 18 million passengers expected to be travelling through Dubai International’s Terminal 1 each year. Launching in partnership with Emirates Leisure Retail (ELR), the shop will be opened for 24 hours every day, with all sandwiches, salads, wraps and hot food made fresh in the shop’s on-site kitchen.
Pret’s Group Director of Food, Caroline Cromar, explains how excited Pret is over the recent opening at Dubai International Airport.
She says, “Finding a quick, fresh and nutritious meal while travelling can often be difficult, so we’re pleased we can play a part in making it even easier for so many passengers at Dubai International. We’ve had a lot of fun developing our new menu. We’ll be bringing plenty of existing Pret favourites over, with some special new products and fantastic locally-sourced ingredients, such as falafel and hummus”