Pret a Manger has just opened its first veggie pop-up in Soho
The City's top lunch spot, Pret a Manger, has had a green makeover today as it opened the doors at its Little Veggie Pop-Up on Broadwick Street in Soho.
The pop-up offers 45 new vegetarian and vegans recipes for the menu, including open rye sandwiches, courgetti and cauliflower rice "plant pots" and savoury yoghurt bowls – as well as a few Pret veggie favourites.
There is also the chance for popular new recipes to be introduced to Pret's nationwide menu once the pop-up, which will be open for the whole of June, has closed.
Customers can vote for which which new recipes have "hit the spot" or "lost the plot" using iPads and a special voting wall in the shop, and via social media using #VeggiePret.
Read more: Five things we learned about the way we eat now from Pret a Manger's annual results
Last year Pret posted double digit growth in its vegetarian food items. The rise in popularity of avocados and other veggie offerings is partly linked to millennials, who are spurning meat and unhealthy foods in favour of more nourishing alternatives.
Pret’s chief executive, Clive Schlee, asked customers on his blog what the company could do to create more delicious vegetarian food.
Over 10,000 customers voted on the subject and Pret has responded by increasing its vegetarian and vegan ranges and launching a Not Just For Veggies campaign to highlight that vegetarian food can be enjoyed by everyone.
Schlee said:
We believe that if vegetarian food was more delicious, attractive and available, more people would choose to eat it. This is the challenge we've set ourselves with our Little Veggie Pop Up, and we look forward to hearing what our customers have to say.