{"id":811966,"date":"2025-02-16T19:36:38","date_gmt":"2025-02-16T17:36:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=811966"},"modified":"2025-02-16T19:36:43","modified_gmt":"2025-02-16T17:36:43","slug":"inside-the-famous-international-fast-food-restaurant-that-launched-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/811966\/inside-the-famous-international-fast-food-restaurant-that-launched-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside the famous international fast-food restaurant that launched in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BusinessTech visited the new Pret a Manger restaurant that opened its doors in Melrose Arch on Friday, 14 February 2025, and it delivered exactly what it promised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pret a Manger is a British multinational sandwich and coffee shop fast-food franchise known colloquially as Pret.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company was founded in 1983 and grew to 697 locations worldwide, including 498 in the United Kingdom and 62 in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company promotes itself by serving freshly made food and good organic coffee while also trying to do the right thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It offers a wide-ranging menu that includes sandwiches, salads, wraps, baked goods, snacks, and an array of organic coffees, teas and other hot and cold beverages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In February 2024, the Millat Group signed a deal with Pret a Manger for the exclusive licence to operate its franchise 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

Pret A Manger chief executive Pano Christou was upbeat about bringing the franchise to South Africa, describing it as a milestone in their international expansion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christou visited South Africa ahead of the launch on 14 February 2025 and sampled the food on the local menu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He explained that the new location has a South African chef with whom the company has been working to curate a menu intended to connect with locals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The South African menu contains food with much more spice than in Europe, including items with chakalaka in the flavour profiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that Pret priced its products in South Africa to ensure it is competitive and offers value for money to consumers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Pret is not trying to be the cheapest fast food outlet in South Africa, it focuses on offering value for money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPret must ensure that when a consumer visits its store and gets served by our staff, they must feel that the experience was great value for money,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To ensure good customer service, Pret a Manger South Africa sent its employees on six weeks of hands-on training in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom perfecting our service to mastering every element of our menu, we\u2019re committed to bringing the best of Pret\u2019s renowned quality and customer care to South Africa,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite all the preparation and work to ensure the first South African Pret outlet is on par with global standards, it is only the start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe acid test will be when we open our first location in South Africa and we start connecting with the local consumers,\u201d Christou said.<\/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

Visiting the first Pret a Manger in South Africa<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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BusinessTech visited the Pret a Manger store in Melrose Arch after its launch, and it was exactly what the fast-food franchise promised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The venue had live music with a DJ, which can be expected as it was the launch weekend for Pret a Manger in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a lot of signage around the restaurant, and it was particularly busy, even though it was relatively early in the morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pret offered a range of grab-and-go pre-packaged foods, including cold sandwiches, hot toasties, and numerous wraps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A footlong chicken baguette costs R62.00, a Haloumi and Falafel wrap was R64.00, and a classic cheese toasty will set you back R55.00.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are also unique South African products, like a Braaibroodjie for R55.00 and a Chakalaka Chicken wrap for R64.00.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These products are all freshly made daily to ensure alignment with Pret a Manger\u2019s promise of quality and fresh food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Melrose Arch Plet offers eight organic coffees, ranging from a Latte, Cappuccino, and Americano to a Mocha and Flat White.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coffee prices start at R27.00 for a small Americano or White Americano to R49.00 for a large Mocha or Spanish Latte.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People can select three organic milk alternatives for their coffee if they prefer, including oat, almond, or soya milk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also on the beverage menu is Organic Hot Chocolate, Organic Iced Coffee, Organic Teas, Coffee Frappes, and Real Fruit Juices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prices for these beverages align with the coffee prices. At the high end, a Coffee Frappe or Organic Iced Coffee costs R49.00.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The images below show the new Pret a Manger South Africa restaurant in Melrose Arch and what it offers clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pret a Manger in Melrose Arch<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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BusinessTech visited the new Pret a Manger restaurant in Melrose Arch, which opened its doors on Friday, 14 February 2025. Here is what it looks like and what it offers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":811988,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[21581,21580,21582,21272],"class_list":["post-811966","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\/811966","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=811966"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811966\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":812092,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811966\/revisions\/812092"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/811988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=811966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=811966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=811966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}