Some of our customers and staff may have seen the media coverage calling for the UK government to make food labelling laws more comprehensive, particularly with regard to the origin of raw ingredients. Openness and transparency are good...

Telling customers that their Pret coffee comes from Ethiopia, Honduras, Sumatra and Peru, their smoked salmon from Scotland, their bananas from Colombia and Panama, and their brie from France allows them to know where the raw ingredients originated ...... nothing wrong with that. Knowledge is good and in many cases nothing will change in the short term - Pret tea will still come from plantations in Sri Lanka and our beef from Southern Ireland.

Buying ingredients locally makes perfect sense for a multitude of reasons. Pret banned 'air miles' on all our ingredients (other than fresh basil) some time ago and we are not in the least bit flippant about the strong feelings of our staff and customers about nurturing the environment.

Buying decisions don't just come down to distance, however, and other things come into play - weather and local farming methods being just two. Is it better to grow tomatoes in the sunshine of Southern Spain and then put them on a boat, or to grow them in a poly tunnel under UV light in England? Recently, we took the steps to ensure that all of the chicken we use is British Higher Welfare. The chickens are reared in purpose-built houses with windows to allow in plenty of natural light and have straw bales and perches to keep them fit and active. The hens also enjoy 20% more space than the industry standard. These standards meet the RSPCA’s recommendations for stocking density and have the support of other key organizations such as Compassion in World Farming (CIWF). Securing a reliable source of higher welfare British chicken for our 200+ kitchens around the UK was much harder than you’d think. The team have worked incredibly hard to make this happen and it is just one example of our commitment to doing what’s best for everyone.

Pret will continue to strive to make and sell the best food we can with the many considerations taken into account. We will never deviate from our long held mission statement 'Creating handmade, natural food, avoiding the obscure chemicals, additives and preservatives common to much of the 'prepared' and 'fast' food on the market today.'

If you'd like any further information on any of these issues, please click through to our sustainability policy