Sustainability
'Doing the right thing' is one of Pret's core values, so it's no surprise that we take sustainability very seriously, from our recipes and packaging, to our shops and supply chain. We've come a long way and still have further to go, but rising to the challenge is the right thing to do. We'll continue to share our sustainability journey and, as always, would love to hear your thoughts on how we can do more.
Doing the right thing
Welcome to our 2023 Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) report. At Pret, we pride ourselves on never standing still, and are even prouder to share our journey on becoming more sustainable with you, every year. We’re committed to publishing our annual reports to help celebrate the big and small moves in this ambition, help track our progress, and hold ourselves accountable for lightening the footsteps we tread on the planet every day.
The Pret Coffee Fund
Since setting up The Pret Coffee Fund in 2014, we've been building long-lasting relationships with our coffee farmers – they make our beans so wonderful after all. Together with the Cenfrocafe Cooperative in Peru, we have designed a course to educate, inspire and support the next generation of coffee farmers to stay in farming. With this course, we want to help them to build a long-lasting profitable business and keeping their craft and organic farming practices going.
Zero landfill
We’re proud to have had a zero landfill policy for all of our managed UK shops, which has been in place since 2012. Our customers have been able to recycle bottles and cans in shops since 2007 and back-of-house recycling is a top focus for our Team Members today.
Community support
Outside of Pret shops, in 2019 we financially supported and participated in community action programmes, like Leeds by Example, the Glasgow Cup Movement, Edinburgh’s In the Loop, Refill and the Cup Recycling Scheme.
Pret's Plastic Pledge
We have made a global commitment to make the following three changes to our plastic packaging use by 2025:
1. Make it 100% recyclable, reusable or compostable
Our long-term ambition is to move to an easily recyclable, plastic-free sandwich pack, made entirely from paper and cardboard. Some plastics, like films, are trickier to recycle but we are working to find innovative solutions.
2. Eliminate all unnecessary single-use plastic
We have started removing unnecessary single-use plastic globally. Plastic knives, forks, teaspoons, and straws are no longer welcome in Pret shops and we’re constantly seeking out new solutions for other pesky plastics, like our coffee cup lids.
3. Help customers to recycle effectively in our shops
We’re also working with waste management companies, industry partners and government organisations to support improvements to waste collection and recycling. New recycling bins and signage are being trialled in our shops to make recycling easy peasy for our busy customers.
Free filtered water stations
Over 250 (and counting) of our shops now have filtered water stations for everyone, not just Pret customers. If you’re passing by, pop in and fill up for free. You can find our rather lovely Pret x Chilly’s reusable bottles in shops too.
Reducing food waste
We donate all of our unsold food to charities at the end of the day through The Pret Foundation. Find out more about The Pret Foundation’s brilliant work and the charities they support.
Pret x Too Good To Go
We've partnered with Too Good To Go, a leading surplus food app to further reduce our food waste. Unsold hot food items cannot be redistributed via The Pret Foundation so instead customers can rescue surprise 'Magic Bags' of unsold hot food from our shops. 50% of the proceeds will go directly to The Pret Foundation, continuing Pret's mission to tackle poverty, hunger and homelessness.
Sourcing
From fresh ingredients…
When it comes to sourcing, Pret is committed to organic coffee and quality ingredients. We work world-wide with suppliers, farmers, peers and charities to environmental, social and economic global sourcing issues.
We’re incredibly proud of our coffee fund which supports the next generation of coffee farmers to build a sustainable business through coffee farming. In 2017, we received a Cage Free Award for our commitment to improving animal welfare. Most recently, we signed up to the European Chicken Commitment for all our operations in the UK and across Europe. We will continue to work with our suppliers and teams to understand where else we can make a difference.
…to amazing shops
We’re very house proud about our shops. Our beautiful oak tables and counters, just like much of our packaging, are made with wood from FSC accredited forests (what a clever bunch of trees). What you can’t see in our UK shops is the renewable electricity they source. This means our kitchens are powered by wind, solar, and hydroelectric energy (and a few lively Team Members too). So whether you’ve settled in for a working lunch or need pop your phone on charge, feel free to plug-in with pride.
Organic coffee
All our coffee is organic (as is our tea, milk and milk alternatives). Our delicious espresso blend is all thanks to the wonderful coffee farmers we work with. In 2014 we set up The Pret Coffee Fund which assures practical support for the next generation of farmers.
Reusable cup discount
You can recycle any paper coffee cup in all of our UK shops, but to help reduce single-use packaging we give customers a 50p discount if they have a reusable cup. We also sell our very own reusable (again and again and again) cup to last you years and years.