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Kelly Rissman
US News Reporter
Pret A Manger’s CEO Clive Schlee was almost wriggling with glee today as he announced a 17 per cent rise in revenue for the food chain.
So what account for Pret’s success? Those free drinks they apparently hand our willy nilly, their speedy service and handy locations? Those factors don’t hurt. But its star item is actually the 50p banana. Schlee told Radio 4’s Today that it was their biggest seller, followed by tuna sandwiches.
Presumably bought as a conscience-salver to 600-calorie “Posh” Cheddar-and-Pickle-baguette lovers, Pret told Trending that it sells 75,000 of them a week (tuna butties do 54,000). To put that into context, that’s like an area the size of Wales made out of 75,000 bananas.
Or, like everyone an Old Trafford waving a banana, Miliband-style.
In fact, the dominance of the banana in Pret is merely a reflection of the fruit’s global pre-eminence. According to the Fairtrade Foundation (Pret’s aren’t Fairtrade but are monitored by agricultural practice auditors Global Gap) ’nanas are the world’s most popular fruit, accruing £10bn in annual sales. In UK supermarkets, only petrol and lottery tickets outsell them.
Which begs one obvious question. How do you like them apples, apples?
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