British sandwich and coffee chain Pret A Manger is set to expand its monthly coffee subscription service to the United States and France, according to a Thursday (Aug. 24) press release emailed to PYMNTS.
The move comes after the service’s success in the United Kingdom, where it was launched as a response to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Reuters reported Thursday.
Reached for comment, a Pret spokesperson confirmed the news of the expansion and provided an emailed statement from Jorrie Bruffett, president of Pret A Manger North America.
“We’re very excited to be bringing Club Pret to the U.S. this fall,” Bruffett said in the email. “Our Coffee Subscription currently offers tremendous value to our customers and it will be evolving to an even stronger proposition, aimed at rewarding our most loyal customers for always choosing Pret.”
The subscription service, which is now known as Club Pret, was introduced in September 2020, according to the Reuters report. It now allows U.K. subscribers to enjoy up to five barista-prepared drinks per day for a monthly fee of 30 pounds (about $38). In addition, subscribers receive a 10% discount on all food, snacks and additional drinks purchased from the chain. Starting from Sept. 5, the discount will be increased to 20%.
Encouraged by the positive response in the U.K., Pret plans to introduce the service in the U.S. in September, followed by France in November, the report said. The company has 58 stores in the U.S. and 48 in France. It aims to roll out the coffee subscription service to all of its other markets by 2024.
The pricing for the subscription service in the U.S. and France has not been confirmed, per the report.
In the U.K., the rebranded subscription service has already gained significant attention. In its first three months, there were 17.8 million redemptions, representing a 31% year-on-year increase, the report said. This strong performance, combined with a 20% jump in first-half sales, has given Pret a boost as it pursues its growth plans.
With over 600 shops worldwide, Pret A Manger aims to more than double the size of its business by 2026, per the report. The company’s return to profitability in 2022 has further supported its expansion efforts.
The coffee sector broadly — and coffee subscriptions specifically — is seeing fierce competition that subscription offerings can help with, Jim Fosina, the founder and then-CEO of direct-to-consumer brand Amora Coffee, told PYMNTS in an interview posted in December 2022.
“With the pandemic, everybody who had a coffee shop has spun up the website and made their local coffee available,” Fosina said at the time.
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