Pret A Manger will be increasing the price of its current £25 subscription service to £30 to account for “rising ingredient prices and energy costs”, the coffee and sandwich chain has announced. Renamed Club Pret, the subscription will also offer customers 10 percent discount off the menu, but the move hasn’t gone down well with customers.
In an email to existing subscribers, Pret announced the £5 increase would start from June 5 onwards.
It said: “No business wants to raise prices, but of the new subscription price, around £1 will cover increasing ingredient prices, £2 will go towards Pret team pay, and around £2 will help with rising energy costs.”
Pret launched the subscription scheme in September 2020 at a price of £20 a month after sales plummeted during the Covid lockdowns.
It raised the price in March 2022 to £25 a month to account for ingredient price inflation and the Government’s VAT increase.
With news that the price will rise once again to £30, customers have taken to Twitter to voice their discontent, describing the move as “ridiculous” and “excessive”.
@millolip tweeted: “Pret raising subscription prices a further 20 percent after a 25 percent increase not long ago, dropping the smoothies and frappes and describing it as an upgrade leaves a bad taste. I think my love affair may be over.”
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Some customers have suggested the number of coffees included per day is lowered instead.
@ollieguy68 tweeted: “Pret I see that the subscription is increasing yet again to £30 in June. Have you considered a cheaper option, where someone can get two to three drinks a day for cheaper? I don’t really need the five drinks a day or a discount on food as I never buy food!”
According to Pret, the subscription service was used 1.25 million times a week in the UK, up 11 percent year-on-year.
Club Pret will continue to offer customers five hot or iced drinks a day, as well as 10 percent discount on all food and snacks.
However, the 10 percent discount won’t quite offset the recent menu price hike, as some product prices increased as much as 18 percent last month.
Twitter user @sarahlane91 responded to the deal: “Another £5 increase seems excessive. Especially as the only difference is 10 percent off of food that you have increased the prices of considerably. Can we keep the old subscription for just coffee?”
Pret A Manger CEO Pano Christou, said: “Over the past year, we’ve thought long and hard about the best way to support the people who matter most to Pret – our team members who do such an outstanding job, day in and day out, as well as our customers.
“That’s why we’ve increased pay three times in the past 12 months, and reinvested in benefits to support our people through the cost-of-living crisis.
“It’s now time that we give back to our most loyal customers, expanding the subscription and making our freshly made food, snacks and organic coffee more accessible to the people who have been crucial to Pret’s success. That’s what Club Pret is all about.”
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