Pret to increase reusable cup discount to 50p

Sandwich chain Pret A Manger will be increasing its reusable cup discount from 25p to 50p in the new year.

 

From the first week of 2018, customers who bring a reusable cup for their drinks purchase will have 50p knocked off the price, encouraging more customers to bring reusable cups rather than throwing away disposable cups every time they buy a drink. Around 2.5 billion disposable coffee cups are thrown away every year in the UK.

 

Pret's chief executive Clive Schlee said: "We debated whether charging people for using paper cups felt right. We decided that it goes against our instincts as we would prefer to be generous to our customers than to tax them. Let's see what impact the new discount has."

 

Good news: @Pret will increase the discount for bringing a reusable cup to 50p in January. Thanks for your views. t.co/wtVwzoPe3U

 

— Clive Schlee (@Cliveschlee) December 6, 2017

 

 

Of 5,000 respondents to an Instagram Stories poll asking whether Pret should increase the discount, 96% voted yes.

 

As part of the change, the brand will also be launching its own branded reusable cup, to launch later in 2018, and will "explore" adding china cups to more of its shops with seats.

 

The brand also launched a trial in its Veggie Pret and Manchester stores to see if it can reduce plastic waste, encouraging customers to fill up their bottles for free using new filtered water stations and selling reusable glass bottles alongside regular water bottles.

 

This year, Pret saw sales grow 15% to £776.2m, driven by sales in dairy- and gluten-free ranges. Since the first Pret opened 30 years ago, the brand has been donating unsold food to the homeless every night.

 

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