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<\/a>Christou told The Money Show<\/a> that Pret A Manger will open its first restaurant in South Africa on 14 February 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In February 2024, the Millat Group signed a deal with Pret for the exclusive licence to operate Pret stores in Southern Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Millat said the deal forms part of its long-term strategy to expand into the sector by offering customers access to organic and sustainable food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPret A Manger has the best in class offering of organic grab and go and a food service offering that stands out,\u201d Millat Group CEO Hamza Farooqui said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Christou praised the Millat Group, saying it is a family business which understands the local nuances in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen we decided to work with the Millat Group, they have ticked all the boxes for us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Farooqui explained that this partnership aligns with Millat\u2019s strategy of bringing global brands into South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Christou said bringing Pret\u2019s freshly made food and organic coffee to Africa marks a significant milestone in their international expansion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said that during a recent visit to South Africa, he consumed the food that will be on the menu here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere is much more spice than what we are used to in Europe. I like spicy food, so I thoroughly enjoyed it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe acid test will be when we open our first location in South Africa on 14 February, and we start connecting with the local consumers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt will tell us how far we got things right and where we made mistakes. There will be mistakes from which we will learn.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said Pret will price its products in South Africa to ensure it is competitive and offer value for money to consumers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPret must ensure that when a consumer visits its store and get served by our staff, they must feel that the experience was great value for money,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe don\u2019t have the brand awareness in South Africa that many of our competitors enjoy, so we have to be mindful of that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said Pret is a great environment to shop in, offering excellent quality food, ranging from chicken to organic coffee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pret A Manger is known for serving freshly made food which is prepared in their shop kitchens throughout the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This means that they avoid frozen food, forcing the company to source the ingredients they use locally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Christou was very impressed by the fresh produce supply chain in South Africa, from which they will get their ingredients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe number of products we source locally in South Africa with our new market entry is the highest ever,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said this is a feather in the cap of the local fresh produce industry, which is on par with the best in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He confirmed that Pret will prepare the sandwiches and salads it sells throughout the day to ensure freshness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCustomers will sense and taste the quality of the products we will offer in Pret stores in South Africa,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He admitted that producing fresh food impacts margins and adds complexity to the business model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe need to carefully consider how we scale up and choose a menu suitable to local conditions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This means that the initial Pret A Manger menu in South Africa will not be too broad. However, it will be scaled up as the business matures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n British multi-national sandwich and coffee shop franchise Pret A Manger will launch in South Africa next month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":809286,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[21581,21580,21582,21272],"class_list":["post-809260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-hamza-farooqui","tag-millat-group","tag-pano-christou","tag-pret-a-manger"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=809260"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809260\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":809291,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809260\/revisions\/809291"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/809286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=809260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=809260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=809260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Keeping things fresh<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\nInside a Pret A Manger<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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