Pret a Manger has overhauled its loyalty scheme, extending the discount available, but upping the price by 20% as it faces increased staff and wholesale costs.
In what is a rebrand of its Coffee Subscription, Pret is increasing the monthly price of the subscription to £30, up from £25.
Under the new scheme – called Club Pret – members will continue to receive up to five barista-prepared drinks a day, but will now also receive 10% off all food products and additional drinks across the majority of the chain’s 439 stores.
The company has seen the wholesale price it pays for milk increase by up to 16% as a result of soaring farmgate prices, according to figures reported by the Guardian. Its costs for other key products like coffee and crisps have risen by 48% and 125% respectively, the chain told the newspaper. Staff pay has also increased by 19% over the past year following three separate pay rises.
“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,” said Pret CEO Pano Christou.
“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.”
As a way of softening the blow of the price hike, existing members will continue to pay the monthly price of £25 until the start of the next billing cycle, on 5 June. Pret is also giving away 100 annual subscriptions, and one “lifetime subscription” to any new member who signs up between 26 April and 3 May. New subscribers will also receive 50% off their first month.
The subscription includes Pret’s full range of tea, coffee and hot chocolate, as well as a new line of iced drinks, which are available in 90% of stores, following a “significant investment in iced machines”.
In April the chain announced it was dropping its range of smoothies and frappes, following a series of complaints from customers over wait times and availability of some blended drinks.
It’s the latest iteration to Pret’s much-vaunted coffee subscription, which first launched in September 2020 as a way of continuing to attract customers while cafés were shuttered during the coronavirus pandemic.
Under what was then called YourPretBarista, subscribers could claim up to five drinks per day, for the monthly cost of £20. The subscription is now redeemed 1.25 million times a week, Pret says, an 11% growth year on year.
In November 2021, this was extended with the addition of Pret Perks, which enabled subscribers to gain additional loyalty points that could be exchanged for a reward like a vegan cookie or popcorn. Pret raised the price of the subscription to £25 last year.
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