‘Consistent’ Pret wins ‘Store Wars’

The piece assesses London branches of both chains on early morning visits. It finds Pret “busy with a steady stream of customers” and with “friendly and assertive” staff engaging with regular customers. It liked Pret’s coffee and “delicious” porridge, and admired its policies on waste, which see leftover food donated to homeless charities.

EAT meanwhile scores for “briskly efficient” staff, contactless payment and a fledgling loyalty scheme with mobile phone company Orange, but gets marked down for “watery” porridge and customers’ “annoying wait” for food.

The scorecard rated Pret eight out of ten and EAT six, and concluded: “With many identical products—and prices—it [EAT] seems to be a copycat version of Pret but without such good service.,. Neither chain is the cheapest in town, but Pret seems to offer far better service and a consistent product. It has a sense of what its customers want.”

For the full story, see Store Wars: Pret a Manger and EAT.