My first career was in hospitality business, at 17 I was a Crew Chief at McDonald’s and at 18, I managed my peers. Kinda rough a few times, but, it definitely started my love for the restaurant business there. It was the first degree that I pursued at Michigan State and the restaurant business is still very close to my heart. Not only because I love to eat, but, there’s also something about the organized chaos or strategic process that fascinates me to this day. The way that McDonald’s revolutionized the production and standards part of a mostly mom and pop industry still has impacts to this day on how people eat globally. Being a bit OCD, the standardized processes and achievable standards energized me and set my career in motion, opening more and more opportunities for me for process improvement and change management in my career. But, I digress….
I have a love affair with McDonald’s, having eaten at a McDonalds in every one of the twenty five countries that I have visited. I order the same meal each time: Double Cheeseburger, Large Fries, Large Coke. For the most part, this meal is exactly the same in every restaurant (except for the plain burgers served in Argentina, but, meh.) In any case, fast food is part of every culture, from street food in NYC or Chicago, to major chains like KFC, McDonald’s and Burger King, all of which can be found here in London. Though, with the rail based, grab and go sort of commuter culture there is much more competition for that quick quid to get something to eat prior to the train. You look around Paddington Station and they’re all there – McDonald’s on Platform 1, Burger King, Marks and Spencer and Sainsbury’s in the main mall part of the station, Upper Crust and Delice de France and Starbucks, right by the main ticket entry hall. The choices are amazing. But, one of them stands out above and beyond all the rest.
Pret a Manger (French for Ready to Eat – a play on the term Ready to Wear) is an English chain of quick service restaurants that are different than the others. According to their website, www.pret.com, their founders “made proper sandwiches avoiding the obscure chemicals, additives and preservatives common to so much of the ‘prepared’ and ‘fast’ food on the market today. The two of them had woefully little experience in the world of business. They created the sort of food they craved but couldn’t find anywhere else.” (Caveat – for a while, McDonald’s had a minority venture capital ownership until 2008, similar to Chipotle).
Pret is a sandwich and soup, mostly take away place. All of their ingredients are chemical and preservative free, including Free Range eggs, traditionally made mozzarella, Higher Welfare chicken breast, handmade soups and handmade mayo. As well as baguettes baked onsite, locally sourced milk and yogurt products and fairtrade coffee. Prices are also relatively inexpensive for what you get and portion sizes are reasonable, instead of a triple decker sandwich from Subway that is as big as your head.
They are everywhere in London, train stations, tube stops, high streets and even in Selfridge’s main store on Oxford Street. The service is quick and friendly and the restaurants are clean, organized and maximized on space. It is a concept that will do very well in grab and go cities like New York, Chicago and Washington DC where they currently are doing business. If they maintain the values of their corporate culture, we could be looking at the next craze in fast food. I’d be concerned if I were Starbucks, or even my original favorite, McDonalds.
That still doesn’t mean that I won’t grab a Double Cheeseburger for 1 pound 29 pence every once in a while. But, I’ll choose the meatball and sweet chili wrap with a bowl of shepherds pie soup over it every day and twice on Sunday.
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