What Grocerants Can Learn From Pret A Manger

Pret A Manger started as a local patisserie in 1986 and has since become a global player, with 450 shops worldwide in the U.K., U.S., Paris, Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Pret’s marketing promises 100% organic products and daily donations of leftovers, and it has a loyal customer base, including yours truly. Pret has achieved popularity due to their promise of freshness, sustainably sourced ingredients and transparency. And, it should serve as a model for supermarkets’ grocerant efforts.

According to Culinary Visions' Fresh Perspectives study, 58% of consumers between the ages of 18 and 34 agree that delivered food is rarely fresh. Respondents also listed locally sourced ingredients to be one of the top indicators of freshness, with 84% agreeing that locally sourced food is the freshest.

It is time to think of your grocerant as fresh food for the working professional: Fifty-nine percent of survey respondents listed sustainability as an important factor of consideration in their food purchases, according to Food Insight’s 2018 Food and Health Survey. Of these respondents, 7 in 10 consumers also attested that they’d give up one of their favorite food products for one that did not contain artificial ingredients.

If supermarkets want to think about long term success for their grocerants, they have to align with consumer desires, wants and needs.