Pret a Manger Organic Coffee cup, freshly made food, at an outlet in Manchester International Airport, England, UK

Pret A Manger /ˈprɛt ə ˈmɒ̃ʒeɪ/ (prêt à manger is French for ready to eat) is an international sandwich shop franchise chain based in the United Kingdom, popularly referred to as Pret, founded in 1983. As of December 2022, Pret had 434 shops in the UK, including 273 in London, plus three "Veggie Prets", which focus exclusively on vegetarian and vegan options. It also has shops in France, the US, Hong Kong and several other countries. Around 90% of all Pret shops worldwide donate their unsold fresh food to local charities, giving more than 16, 000 sandwiches, wraps, salads and baguettes every day to homeless shelters and charities. Two university friends, Sinclair Beecham and Julian Metcalfe, purchased the original Pret after bancrupcy. In 1995, Metcalfe and Beecham set up The Pret Foundation, to help alleviate poverty in the UK. The Pret Foundation received donations from collection boxes in shops, funding a fleet of electric vans that deliver unsold food to homeless shelters at the end of each day, including FareShare, The Felix Project and City Harvest. The Pret Foundation has awarded over £7 million to over 100 charities across the UK, tackling homelessness, hunger and poverty. The first shop outside London was opened on Broad Street, New York, in 2000, and by 2016, there were 74 Pret shops across the United States. In 2001, McDonald's bought a 33% non-controlling stake in the company, which they sold in 2008 to the private equity firm Bridgepoint Capital. Pret a Manger Staff Union In response to labour issues within the company, the Pret a Manger Staff Union was established in 2012 as an independent union with its principal demand being made around calls for a Living Wage. Andrej Stopa, the founder of the union, was later sacked from his Pret branch. Failure to list ingredients on packaging In late 2015, a 17-year-old girl collapsed and needed emergency medical care after a "life-threatening" reaction to sesame, which was present in a Pret product