Pret A Manger Plans to Acquire Competing Chain to Open More Vegan-Friendly Outlets in UK

International chain Pret A Manger is in negotiations with United Kingdom-based chain Eat to purchase the majority of its locations or acquire the 94-outpost chain in order to open new vegetarian Veggie Prets, according to the Evening Standard. In June 2016, Pret introduced its vegetarian concept as a pop-up in London—which performed so well that it continued to operate the eatery as a permanent location. In 2017, the chain opened two additional Veggie Pret locations in London, installed vegetarian-only refrigerators inside its non-vegetarian outposts, and launched a similar pop-up in New York City. In 2018, CEO Clive Shlee expanded the Veggie Pret concept to Hong Kong. While the menu at Veggie Pret is not exclusively vegan, the chain continues to update its offerings with many plant-based dishes—which were its top-selling items in 2017. “The top-selling eight new products at Veggie Pret are all vegan,” Schlee said. “Which either shows that vegan dishes can be just as delicious as veggie dishes, or we have underestimated how strong the vegan movement is.”