Pret a Manger unveiled its new spring menu today (19 April), with a diverse set of new options drawing from a medley of food trends. While health-led trends are no secret – with the entire industry taking note in recent years – Pret’s spring refresh is also a nod to the growing appetite for food centred around nostalgia and indulgence.
According to Lumina Intelligence’s Menu Tracker tool, health-led trends are both driving new concepts and becoming increasingly prevalent in the form of vegan and vegetarian dishes on menus – but so are indulgent items as consumers gravitate towards comfort food in the midst of a cost of living crisis.
Pret has heeded consumers’ evolving preferences post-pandemic and livened up its salad options with a new Mexican-inspired chipotle chickpea salad and Korean-inspired chilli chicken salad. While providing a boost to its previous range – comprising falafel, Italian chicken, and niçoise, among other options – the new items tap into Mexican and Korean cuisines on the rise, introducing bold, punchy flavours previously absent on the menu.
With Mexican and regional Asian cuisines yet to near their peak, customers are not only looking at Korean BBQ or tortillas for their fix - they’re also looking for those flavours in their go-to lunch options. The brand provides a departure from the usual vinaigrettes, while giving food-to-go consumers the opportunity to try something new.
Moreover, Pret seems determined to up its salad game as small but determined new operators such as The Salad Project and Urban Greens, offering fresh customisable salads catering to workers, enter the market.
While Pret has always been the authority on yoghurt and granola pots, two additions – the salted caramel and black forest dessert pots – stand out as a nod to much loved indulgent treats. Healthy alternatives have always been available at Pret, but the new desserts mean make for more luxurious options, leaning back on tried and trusted comfort food.
The spring clean also features a new range of iced coolers in flavours like rhubarb and berry, representing the chain’s “biggest drinks innovation in years”, following the axing of smoothies and frappes in February, believed to be time-consuming and costly to produce fresh, particuarly when claimed as part of Pret’s coffee subscription.
Health and indulgence may seem like food trends at odds with each other, but Pret has chosen to go with both, making it well positioned for any food-to-go consumer.
