So heartbreaking Sinéad’s early death! Her son’s death last year was unspeakably hard.
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My thoughts on the why female artists have less support than male artists on my podcast:
Please click on this LINK as Spotify that took over Anchor.fm doesn’t allow embedding.
When I pre-booked the Barbican gig for April 2015 in late 2014 I had other concerts pre-booked for 2015, but cancelled as I learnt of my brother’s death in January 2015.
Sinéad was the only artist I did not cancel. I trusted her music because she’s authentic, no matter how “messed up” she was. She was real and important and always timely.
Her life was full of pain and different turns and mental health struggles. But one of a kind. So blessed to have seen her live! So glad I didn’t cancel!
A true and pure artist, a brave woman, a beautiful soul!
My favourite live video of Sinéad:
RIP 😔
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Sinéad called the police on her friend & collaborator the legendary Pogues singer Shane MacGowan, as she was worried sick with his drug use. I don’t know how he can even be alive with the amount of drugs and alcohol he’s been drenched in since childhood! He’s like a tea bag immersed in poison and somehow survived. Do some people have certain genes to survive being a walking pharmacy?
There will never be an artist like Sinéad, who no matter how controversial she was or messed up, cared so much for people and had no judgmental bone in her being!
To me she was not “controversial” at all, she had a very clear distinction of right and wrong, of (wrong) judgement and compassion. She was one of the early artists who spoke out on behalf of Britney Spears when Brtiney had her breakdowns with the paparazzi and what we now know how her own family conspired against her. NO-ONE spoke out for Britney then, than Sinéad did!
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While the likes of Katy Perry and other artists laughed about and mocked Britney, Sinéad spoke out! THAT’S a person who is fearless, who cares, who understands issues on the dot and is a fncking trail blazer!!!
I knew I had to go to Sinéad’s Barbican concert while cancelling other gigs shortly after my brother died because I felt safe to not feel lost at an “entertainment” show. It wasn’t a concert, it was going to church! That gig was my sanctuary during hell!
Her ripping up Pope’s picture on one of the biggest USA TV shows was not something I would or could have done, but I hugely respected her for this act, that no-one before or since would dare to dream of doing. A clear statement AHEAD of all the crimes that came out later. Acts, words, ART that she did standing on her own feet, often alone, isolated, but she kept standing and walking! She never followed a trend!
I’ve never been so devastated about a famous person’s untimely death, I usually am not connected, but this one is devastating for some reason! It’s always those who are too sensitive and compassionate who leave too early! Fame is horrible. She didn’t do everything right, but who does? Who can be so famous, wear their heart on their sleeve, get so much backlash and yet remain so kind and thoughtful?
I feel so sad for her family, children, grandchild. So fncking sad!
Sinéad O’Connor & Shane MacGowan Interview, Ireland 1995 Shane MacGowan and Sinéad O’Connor on songwriting, touring and mortality. Shane MacGowan wrote the song ‘Haunted’ for the soundtrack to the 1986 film ‘Sid and Nancy’. The film focuses on the relationship between Sid Vicious, bassist with punk band the Sex Pistols and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen. Originally performed by The Pogues …www.youtube.com
I love the fact that the pandemic has forced businesses to re-think their food waste and donate or sell nearly expired and even expired foods to food banks and pantries. There is still too much food waste of even perfectly fresh food. Last time I checked, it still is illegal in Germany to “dumpster dive” where mainly students and eco-warriors pick out perfect food from dumpsters behind supermarkets and distribute it to friends and people in need.
Two students were put on trial in Germany a few years ago and made a public spectacle of in court to deter others to “steal” food from dumpsters. I haven’t followed the story anymore and am not sure what the verdict was, please do your own research there. But as far as I know in 2023 it’s still illegal in Germany to dumpster-dive, while France changed the laws to force businesses to keep using good/non-expired food and later food share with charities instead of mass-throwing out food.
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Also, side note, someone is copying and pasting my posts one by one. Just make sure you have a leg to stand on when claiming that my writings are yours.
I know that Pret waste a lot of food than they can donate, as I had to throw out countless large bin bags of food for years, as well as members of the public posting pictures and videos of Pret’s food waste in the streets. But since the pandemic, and companies being forced to show their greed in broad daylight, Pret not only carry-over food to the next day(s) to sell (hence, false advertising, as NOT freshly made), but now SELL left-over food as “surprise” bags for cheaper via the TooGoodToGo app.
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The problem with that is not only the risk to get expired/mouldy food, but that while BEFORE the pandemic Pret was VERY strict about NOT even giving for FREE cooled down hot food like hot wraps, soups, porridge, mac & cheese etc. to charity due to safety reasons. NOW they sell it for cheaper via TGTG.
I was reprimanded by my manager when I was new to running a shop and gave hot food to charity at the end of the night. I didn’t know we weren’t allowed to give cooled down hot food away. I was stressed about this and felt humiliated that I was told off like this. And as Pret are Pret, what do they do now? Not only a complete U-Turn on safety issues, but even making money from it under the “charity” umbrella for tax breaks and brownie points with the public.
Can I have an apology by the manager who reprimanded me, while 1. I wasn’t even told about this when I was “trained” to be a shift runner before I became a team leader. And 2. Pret now continuing unsafe food practices, despite 2 customer deaths and 20+ injuries from labelling/ingredient issues. They’re now making money from it.
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Needless to say how hypocritical it is AND unsafe as soups in Pret at times have been re-heated 3-4+ times to save money on waste. I go into great detail in Pret Quietly Change their Slogans in how Pret seem to move away from the “freshly made food” slogan to “handmade every day” as I keep bombarding the internet with writings AND pictures of mouldy food from Pret.
When I pointed out to TGTG UK branch about Pret’s Hypocrisy in Food Safety, they of course blocked me. That’s telling. It means they don’t want to know about food safety and the dangers of unsafe food practices.
I explain in detail in the two above posts on Pret’s slogans and hypocrisy HOW Pret’s food is really made, especially soups that are cooked in factories, delivered in plastic bags (containing 6 cups per bag), then just re-heated in water baths or the microwave. By the time a customer gets a soup, it has for absolute certainty been heated up twice. Again, hence, not freshly made.
I explain how staff even years before the pandemic keep re-heating unsold soup bags the next day after they cooled it off the night before when it didn’t sell. It is not uncommon that the soup you eat from Pret has been re-heated 3, 4 or more times to save money on waste.
“Incredibly unwell after eating a tomato soup”:
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A customer favourite is the Mushroom Risotto soup, but here it tastes “odd”:
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And many more. And this isn’t even from the cheap TGTG surprise bag, these are customers paying the full price.
On Facebook TGTG also recently blocked me after I linked to mouldy, non-fresh food to an excited customer having gotten soups in their surprise bag. But before they blocked, I reminded them that if a customer gets ill or worse, even dies again from any Pret food due to food poisoning and the ongoing mislabelling, where vegans and vegetarians (some for over 25 years) eat meat, and religious people eat pork instead of beef or fish or veg, TGTG will not be able to say that they didn’t know how Pret remain unsafe.
I keep the receipts!
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WRONG labels:
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DAYS after Pret opened their first shop in India, CHICKEN hot wrap instead of veg. On Facebook was another India complaint recently where the customer is threatening with legal action against the franchise owner about other issues.
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The one that even shocked me, and I’ve seen a lot, is where the dairy Bircher Muesli was made with MAYONNAISE!!! This must have been made by either a new worker who struggles with reading English when looking for the yoghurt bucket in the fridge or an extremely exhausted staff who rushed like a headless chicken, or both. They all have to rush in understaffed shops under a bullying fear culture.
I speak about how Pret were always and continue to be unsafe in their food practices on my podcast, incl. how staff are pressured to cheat by signing training papers without being trained. I highlight a weird Barbican seminar AFTER the first customer Natasha Ednan-Laperouse died. But there was NO mention of a fatality and further injuries. I also highlight the difference between Starbucks CEO’s proactive handling of crisis and Pret’s CEO (then Clive Schlee) lack of action in crisis, and other insights into work at Pret.
And current CEO Pano Christou who came from McDonald’s, coming full circle, turning Pret into a McDonald’s type business isn’t better as we can see with current mouldy food and ongoing mislabelling. And when the customers died in the UK and more got injured worldwide, Pano Christou was the UK Managing Director and also ignored it before it got public in the press. He was number 2 to Clive Schlee and could have intervened in any way.
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Many more mislabelled products in above “Vegans Eat Meat” post.
And as a little but important side note, no-one will ever know IF or how many homeless people suffered food poisoning or got hurt eating mislabelled food. Homeless people have food allergies and intolerances as well! Food allergies are not reserved for the rich and privileged. Poison, injuries and death don’t discriminate!
The only thing that the rich or middle class people have in favour, they can afford legal aid to sue companies, and like in the case of the millionaire Ednan-Laperouse family are able to reach up to government and get “Natasha’s Law” implemented as well as being summoned by King Charles in his last days of being a prince.
A poor or homeless person simply suffers or dies. That was that. No one would even know why they got hurt or died. But if it is known, there won’t be any repercussions. No-one held to account. End of. Let’s be real here! They might even get ignored by paramedics.
A flatmate and I in Germany once tried to change bandages of a homeless man who had infected wounds on his ankles and always came to our door to ask for money or food. But this time he came with complaints of his ankles.
We made a rare exception to let him in and try to tend to the wounds while calling the ambulance. The ambulance came, but hesitated to help the man as he didn’t want to go to hospital, and they seemed in a hurry to get out again as the man was smelly and dirty. Not only did the paramedics NOT tend to his wounds, but they left him with us! Today I would absolutely demand for the medics to tend to the man, no matter if and why he doesn’t want to go to hospital! They have all the tools to do an initial clean up of the wounds.
This is many years ago, but I’m still shocked about it! So, don’t kid yourself to think a homeless person on the street will get help or justice when dying from hidden or mislabelled allergens.
But now to what I really wanted to write about!
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Food Pantries Seem to be Taking Over the Amount of Food Banks
Rising food banks is a concern for me. But as there’s now money to be made and it adds up. Food pantries seem to be rising and now even seem to outnumber food banks in areas. Good, we may think. Yes … but …
I worked in charities, volunteered since I was a teenager and know the tricks and traps of the multi-million pound charity “industry”, especially with staff making good salaries while the work is being done by unpaid volunteers.
As Pret read my blog, they will be delighted to learn that I rely a lot on food banks and pantries, still unable to work and function in a “normal” workplace. I’m not ashamed about it and we will see who will be laughing more regarding Pret A Manger.
But I do crazy things sometimes where I go to a local restaurant and treat myself to a full blown meal!
As food pantries have popped up all over during the pandemic and since the cost of living crisis, I was given the tip by neighbours about pantries. I was really excited to find pantries where you even get real vegetables, not just canned foods.
The deal is simple and might vary a little bit from pantry to pantry. But in comparison to FREE food banks that mainly give tinned foods and other non-perishable items, and maybe some donated pastries and bread, food pantries don’t require a referral from the Job Center, Citizen Advice Bureau or your GP. And they sell vegetables. And important for me, I feel a little bit “normal” to BUY food rather than get hand-outs!
And free food banks are only limited to people who live in that borough. If I live in borough “A”, I can’t go to borough “B” to get free food. But with food PANTRIES, there is no requirement to be in the borough of that pantry. Some require registration for their data base, others just ask for a first name for the list on the day as it is on first-come / first-serve basis with ticketing.
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Example of Two Pantries
Each pantry sells food two to three or four times a week. Pantries that are close together also share food. What pantry “A” didn’t sell on Monday, pantry “B” gets for their Tuesday sales etc. But pantry “B” has to pay pantry “A” for the food. That way food waste is minimized especially with vegetables and fruit that spoil fast.
Anyone can just come by unannounced and in comparison to food banks will not be asked any embarrassing questions on why they need the food. They’re not asked about details of their crisis. This fact has led me to not go to food banks anymore and had my fridge empty many times, because I didn’t have the strength or courage to go to the Job Center or GP to get a referral and then again having to explain to food bank volunteers what my current situation is.
This was then very attractive for me with food pantries. PLUS, in my pride I feel better when I PAY even just a little bit. It has more dignity. And with pantries you CHOOSE items that you like, while with food banks they just collect items for your bag except products you’re allergic to. Since the whole Pret allergy catastrophes, not only businesses are forced to take food allergies more serious. Food banks and some (not all) pantries have the allergy question on which foods you can’t have included in their questionnaire now.
Even when I want to escape my Pret writings, I am constantly confronted in businesses and pantries with Pret due to allergy warnings that only started with Pret’s customer deaths. It always takes death before change happens.
Without calling any pantry out, I just name them in letters.
Pantry A:
Pantry “A” only sells once a week on a Tuesday between certain morning and afternoon hours.
The deal is, you either pay £2.50 for 10 items which are 5 tins/non-perishables (tins, pasta, rice, tea etc.) and 5 fresh items veg/fruit. And for £5 you get double, 10 non-perishables and 10 fresh items.
Pantry “A” is pretty good with fresh stuff, they get fresh veg and fruit (which is NOT donated but purchased by the way), an hour before giving it out. BUT after I received 2 large onions which I wanted to use on the same day, I found that the insides were rotten, I started to tune my ears to conversations of other pantry customers.
Just yesterday I got to know a lady who’s been going there for a while and is a little bit of a “trouble maker”, calling out the pantry staff for hiding fresh fruit and veg under the table and then giving out the older stuff. My kinda trouble maker and we hit it off immediately after I shared my rotten onions debacle which I had to throw away. 😀
I believe the staff member hides the fresh food to minimize waste costs and then be able to sell fresher food to pantry “B”, who might otherwise not take the “older” food. Cheeky bums!
Pret do the same. When I worked at Pret I had to look at all the selection, and an hour before closing time sell sandwiches to the nearest Pret shop that was open longer, as every shop is required to have a certain amount of selection on display until closing time, not too much selection of a variety of products, but also not too little.
Now, people may say, “beggars are no choosers”. Ho-ho! Stop yourself from such disrespect please. First of all, the food is not free, but just a fraction of the cost, and still you PAY money. Secondly, food pantries advertise themselves as ethical, helping the community etc. but NONE of them mentions on their website or posters that MOST of the foods are expired!
One pantry had such NON-fresh veggies and upon taking an oat milk from the shelf, looking at the best-before date, which will be 29.07.2023 (in a few days of writing this), the volunteer, who minutes before was talking about dignity when I pointed out how organised everything looks, said that these are best-before dates which are fine after those days.
She’s right of course, but as I kept looking around at the clearly visibly non-fresh veg, I didn’t feel much dignity.
Pantry B:
This pantry is with the “dignity” volunteer lady. And their deal is £4.50 for 16 items. They have a colour system where they have coloured stickers on shelves. You can get 8 yellow items, which are non-perishables; 6 pink items which are “fresh” (fruit and veg); and 2 red items which are special things that are either more expensive usually or in some way special, like cheese, frozen stuff, large bottles of coke etc.
They also have some free items they would otherwise not get rid of like some green sugar fondant for cakes or bunches of radishes which were okay-ish but the leaves where already yellow.
The reason the lady mentioned dignity was because I asked her some questions and mentioned that I read on their website that the pantry started during the pandemic and how I find this great yada yada. And then I mentioned how impressed I am with how they organised it with shelving, fridges, even some nice lighting etc. looking like a shop rather than a warehouse, like food banks often look and feel.
This is then when she explained that they started with tables and more bare before slowly changing it to a shop type look to give it dignity.
Now, when you mention dignity, I start to “dig” deeper. Pun intended! And please keep in mind that I’m talking about a food pantry that sells food for MONEY, no matter how little the price is. This is not a food bank or a supermarket dumpster!
Again, it isn’t even so much a problem for me that food pantries sell expired or soon to expire foods and somewhat non-fresh vegetables and fruit for a very cheap price. But to do so under the “we care for the community and vulnerable people” umbrella, without even mentioning that the food “may be” expired but still safe to eat is not on. It lacks integrity, transparency and true care.
And mind you, isn’t SELLING expired / out of date food not unlawful?? No matter how cheap the price? Also, there were a lot of large potatoes next door where customers couldn’t see it. This means this pantry is also “hiding” fresh produce to get rid of old stuff while claiming to serve “good quality” and healthy food.
And in my distrusting, pessimistic mind I can’t help but think that this is becoming the norm rather than a momentary exception. Tory politicians celebrate the rise of food banks and businesses cash in AGAIN on non-fresh, expired food for pantries and then claim to be ethical in their care for the “community”. Yuck!
The rich seem to do this on purpose to yet again degrade the poor by throwing crumps at us for which we even have to pay, even if it’s not much, but it does something to the psyche. It’s clever, the poor are hardly to be found in supermarkets so that rich people and people with a regular income can enjoy every place for themselves. Again.
Segregation of another kind. Quietly move the poor over there with the cheap stuff, and have the rich over here with the “proper” goods and services. And then feed the poor with the crumbs that fall off the table. In our modern times all this is done under “charity” and “ethics” while still having a laugh. I know it’s an age-old class struggle. But it will always sit queer in my system like a plank of wood swallowed horizontally.
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Dignity
As I volunteered for many years in three countries with different projects, I once helped out at a local clothes charity in Florida that gave away free clothes that were donated. This was not a thrift store or pawn shop selling clothing items for 50 cent, all clothes, bags, hats, shoes etc. were for free.
I can’t remember the exact rules, but I think it was something like a person could come every so months (maybe 2 or 3 times a year??) and choose 3-5 itmes per person, per visit. I can’t remember exactly. Part of my job with the other 3 to 5 volunteers was to go through bags upon bags of donated clothes each week and sieve out ANY piece that had even the slightest stain or hole.
I remember being literally TOUCHED by the only STRICT rule they had to NEVER give out any item with even the slightest stain or hole, even like a little bleach stain which is a “clean” stain. We had to be meticulous like forensic detectives to look for stains, holes and any imperfections. And because we all were so touched by the care for vulnerable people’s dignity, we all made sure to do the job properly, no matter how long it took! It was a “mission” we completely took on and OWNED!
It was about DIGNITY! It was SUPER important for the charity to give out the best possible to people struggling and already embarrassed to be asking for free things. One little stain, one little hole, and the thing went in the bin, or if any of us volunteers were happy to take it, that was up to us. We were different as we saw the items first thing, but did not want to subject a person in need to take it in the “beggars are no choosers” mentality.
And it might be cheesy for you who read this, but I’m tearing up and have goosebumps remembering this as I’m writing this. This was true lived dignity and respect. I can’t remember where I wrote this on my blog, but this is the same place that occasionally did a spa day for sex workers. Occasionally the charity put on a whole Saturday for sex workers and people who can’t afford it to get free hair cuts, make-up done, manicure, pedicure etc. for them and their children. Someone also cooked a proper nice meal. They did that to remind people that we all have dignity and are worth the respect every human being deserves, no matter their background or circumstances.
What was striking to me as well was that those who served doing the make-up or manicure or cooked, were a mix of “regular” people from the community, current and former sex workers and/or former drug addicts. It was such a mix of people without any judgment! Just one day of “utopia” where people who are simply human beings came together and made something beautiful for all involved. There go them tears again!
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Friends are Stranger than some Strangers
You know this thing when a friend clears out their cupboard and comes to you to give you a pile of jumpers or dresses to choose from as they’re clearing out. And you choose an item or several clothes with excitement, especially if one piece was always your favourite when your friend wore it. Only later when you have more time to take a closer look to find stains on the jumpers, or the odd little hole in the dress. And you start questioning your friendship! Well, I did.
If the friend would have said to a group of friends that they have some clothing which have stains/holes and they can’t or don’t want to wear it anymore, maybe due to a public job, but if anyone still would want it to help themselves, that’s different.
If a clothing item for example is really expensive and you could never afford it, but maybe you’re an arty person and know ways to cover up the stain or hole, go for it, as long as it is communicated that the person wants to get rid of it due to imperfections.
But to come under this “mantle” (pun intended again! Sorry!) of “I’m clearing my cupboard because I have too much stuff …”
Well …
I was lead to write today’s post after I ate vegetables from “dignity” pantry “B” yesterday, which were okay-ish, but I noticed that I have increased stomach aches, diarrhoea, and a few months ago even vomited for the first time in 8 years.
The last time I vomited was in early 2015, days after I learnt that my brother died and in the following days finding out more and more detail, which were so shocking to my system that I vomited at one point. Good thing I was at home and not on the bus or at work.
Without going into personal detail with my physical and reproduction health, but I knew that it wasn’t pregnancy or food poisoning. My body just exploded in shock. And after that I must have cramped up my body during trauma because I never vomited again, even during the most drunken moments.
My body has always been robust and I have always been able to eat everything. I am very lucky to not have any allergies or intolerances.
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Not just Health but Dignity
Today, from yesterday’s “dignity” Pantry “B” shopping I made myself a salad with the spinach, pepper, the free rubber radishes, some herbs that are still kind of in the green-ish area. In addition I used the vegetables that are more on the “softer” side like an aubergine, spring onions etc. to stir fry them.
I threw as many spices and lemon juice at everything as I could handle, to pimp up the taste. But while eating I realised, you can’t pimp up texture. There’s nothing worse than the texture of non-fresh vegetables, especially with aubergine. And vegetables that are not fresh also lose taste. There’s just something eerie and yucky about non-fresh vegetables.
And after the meal my stomach felt achy again and still feels off while writing this. I started looking at everything in my fridge and kitchen cupboard. Everything from food pantries have either soon-to-expire best-before dates, or have already expired, or are about to expire in the next days. Even tinned foods have expiry dates of no later than August and September 2023. So, you can’t even stock up for a rainy day like what we experienced with empty shelves during lockdowns or rising prices.
So, you’re forced to eat stuff before they expire for the sake of health and dignity. I am re-thinking the food pantry opportunity and think of eating less, even though I don’t even eat a lot as my stomach can’t take much food anymore, but eat at a higher price with FRESH produce from the supermarket.
In the long-run when eating non-fresh food and expired foods, I feel I’m paying with my health for it.
Less food but fresh, tasty and healthy, though more expensive = dignity.
Or regular meals, but expired, not tasty at all and potentially a health risk in the long run. No dignity.
Not yet decided if I should feed my body on the sacrifice of my dignity via food pantries, or my dignity at the cost of my bank account with other important things I need via supermarkets.
Feeding both body AND dignity isn’t possible at the moment.
I worked at Pret A Manger and survived systemic workplace bullying during bereavement that involved HR, the top leadership, HQ and even the now “retired” former CEO Clive Schlee. I declined 4 settlement offers if I am silent about my ordeal. But I rather speak out to help others. For an overview of important blog entries of my experience with Pret, please visit “My Ordeal with Pret A Manger”. The little arrow to the right next to each heading will lead directly to the post. An incomplete list on what other Pret staff say about Pret’s bullying environment: Caught in the Act Bullying at Pret and What shop MANAGERS & HQ staff say about Pret incl. CEO Pano Christou. I tell my story for the first time verbally in below audio player interview on a podcast by The Adam Paradox, and wrote two articles in the Scottish Left Review as well as mentioned by the BBC.
As Pret do what they do best, use the press to impress the public with profits, being in the black with higher profits since 2018, I want to magnify why that is.
First of all it’s interesting that Pret compare the profit rise to 2018, not 2019 just before the pandemic losses. The two customers who have died and over 20 who got injured (that we know of) which came to light in September 2018, may have been a factor that Pret compares to 2018 instead of 2019.
In early 2022 I wrote a reddit post on how Pret make profit through their coffee subscription. This year reddit hid my post, while I can still see it when logged in, others can’t. The typical reddit over-extreme censorship by power-tripping moderators of subreddits who can’t stand when people write with extensive knowledge. Their insecure little selfs need to silence anyone for no reason while putting complicated “rules” in place that are easy to break. Or even when rules are not broken,they just come up with reasons why they ban people. It’s become so normal that I always expect being banned, therefore I don’t even read the rules anymore. 😀
Just move on to the next. I copied my post into my own reddit profile to link to it again as it is too long for a Twitter thread.
In this post how Pret A Manger make PROFIT from their Coffee Subscription, I go into detail after a Times journalist asked on Twitter on Pret can make profit with such a “generous” subscription deal. I replied briefly and he started following me and ask questions. Later his boss also started following, but in my usual drunken stupor I kicked all journalists off incl. from the Guardian, BBC etc. It is what is it.
This is when Pret started the subscription at £20.
I basically listed on reddit how Pret cheat, take, steal from customers, delay service, refuse expensive items, make it hard to cancel … all to avoid people using the subscription.
A BBC report also came from my tweets explaining how Pret keep scamming customers: “Pret customers complain over drinks subscription deal“. Journalist Mike Powell mentioned my blog as I kept updating issues on the subscription and other things.
So, Pret now boast that the subscription is the reason for the profit jump, and it’s true because the subscription is THE fastest money AND data grab while avoiding to deliver on the advertised T&Cs.
Meanwhile, quality suffers. Food and coffee quality down. Service quality down etc.
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For a more extensive, but not updated, list on Pret’s expired, stale and mouldy food with pictures, please see Pret’s Food isn’t Fresh.
Many complaints on Pret’s coffee, even before the pandemic. This is just the tip of the iceberg:
And 61% of customer on Trustpilot give one star reviews, 11% two stars and only 19% approve of Pret. It’s actually 72% who are very unhappy customers with the 1 and 2 stars combined. Many having vowed to never set foot inside Pret again. The complaints are on a variety of issues, the main issues being higher prices for lesser quality products, the coffee subscription has a lot of complaints, and dirty shops, rude staff etc.
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As of 21.07.2023
My “favourite” review is form 01. May 2023 in a short and sweet sentence, quote:
“Why Pet deserves to fail
The Pret on Marylebone St, literally closed the door in my face. Said they were closing, still staff working the counters.
Pret deserves to fail. From a once customer focused company its now a brand which needs to go“
Pret RE-founder and itsu founder Julian Metcalfe said to me on Twitter when I linked him itsu staff reviews where staff were calling Metcalfe a liar, sexist, racist etc. Metcalfe said that these reviews are biased as anyone can just anonymously leave a review. Of course he has a point, but 1. why would anyone make the effort to leave a “fake” review. 2. Then the positive reviews are also biased and fake. 3. The Trustpilot reviews are done by mainly people with their names and many having a history of many other reviews.
Most are NOT anonymous, no-name one-off reviews.
What Metcalfe said, I’ve put on YouTube after I chased him off Twitter when he deleted his tweets and then Twitter account after just 2 days on there. But I screenshot his tweets when he kept RT’ing my tweets. He certainly wasn’t media savvy there:
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The Office of National Statistic, that seems to be obsessed with Pret, has tweeted several times over the last few months that Pret sales have decreased in MOST locations. I believe this is also due to Pret pushing the subscription too aggressively to make FAST money and to collect data quicker.
June:
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July
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Some of the MANY staff reviews
Glassdoor: “Coffee subcription ruined work morale completely.”
Indeed (verbatim, I leave mistakes in): “they’re pushing their subscription harder than ever (Head office peope going around central london stores complaining that we’re not pushing the “New club pret subscription” to every single customer in the middle of morning coffee or lunch rush times to people who don’t want yet another subscription…).”
Indeed: “Since the subscription service was introduced, the queue is non-stop but doesn’t bring any additional cash to the shop to hire new staff with. This results in the shop being understaffed, so you are expected to do the job of 3 people at twice the normal speed.”
Increased customer complaints on rude and aggressive staff as unfortunately customers want their “free” subscription coffee, not seeing how burnt out staff are. I worked at Pret before the pandemic, and it was already hell to work there, but I can’t even imagine working there now with the subscription and the extra abuse by Pret head office. I KNOW how psychological abusive Pret executives/leaders are behind that mystery shopper enforced smile.
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So a PR move via the press to say their profits are up due to the subscription sounds like a call to ignore that shops are in shambles.
Another issue that was briefly reported on was that Pret’s donation increased by 122%. Again, misleading success because the donations came in many times due to the donation devices being VERY close, right next to the payment devices. Many customers by accident and in the noisy rush tapped the donation devices to pay for their food/drink and then donated £5 to the Pret Foundation (for tax breaks and brownie points with the public).
Customers where then prompted again to pay. Some have pointed out correctly that this is very psychological, customers who donate feel embarrassed to request a refund from “charity”. Pret now that psychology very well. Pret also kept and still now keep ignoring customer contacts about the refund in hopes they will just give up.
And further issue how Pret scam customers via the coffee subscription which is the reason for the high profit jump:
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I worked at Pret A Manger and survived systemic workplace bullying during bereavement that involved HR, the top leadership, HQ and even the now “retired” former CEO Clive Schlee. Schlee has been appointed CEO of itsu in 2024 by Julian Metcalfe who gave him the CEO spot at Pret many years ago. I declined 4 settlement offers if I am silent about my ordeal. But I rather speak out to help others. For an overview of important blog entries of my experience with Pret, please visit “My Ordeal with Pret A Manger”. The little arrow to the right next to each heading will lead directly to the post. An incomplete list on what other Pret staff say about Pret’s bullying environment: Caught in the Act Bullying at Pret and What shop MANAGERS & HQ staff say about Pret incl. CEO Pano Christou. I tell my story for the first time verbally in below audio player interview on a podcast by The Adam Paradox, and wrote two articles in the Scottish Left Review as well as mentioned by the BBC.
Please also see the MEDIA page for more on my work with the press.
UPFRONT: Not sure why the screenshots below are stretched vertically, another one of WordPress’ little “changes” that upsets us writers a lot! Just click on the links underneath the pictures for context. Trying to fix it.
WordPress already censored me on Pret’s behalf by having moved my blog into the adult section where porn sites are stored. This is because they need to keep free speech, but it means that WordPress users cannot find my blog when logged in and in the reader’s section looking for Pret articles. My blog is hidden despite me PAYING for it! .
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“mater” Yep. I does “mater” doesn’t it.
Quote:
“Thank you for your patience while we’ve reviewed your site’s content and your previous correspondence with WordPress.com.
As previously mentioned, your site expret.org contains materials which meet our definition of mature content including use of strong language and mature subject mater that is not suitable for all WordPress.com users.
As such—and as outlined on this support page—we prevent this type of content from appearing in public spaces within WordPress.com such as the Reader. Beyond that, your site remains publicly accessible online and can be viewed by anyone.”
If any webdeveloper reads this, please let me know if you can help me with transferring my blog to a new webprovider.
Also, side-note, someone is speed-copying my blog posts lately again. Don’t forget copyright in case you try to publish and claim copyright. You won’t get away with it.
And if anyone tries to get my blog shut down like some always try with my social media channels, I have already everything backed up since I started the blog. So, keep trying.
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Even if it’s hard to believe, but I rarely post anything regarding Pret anymore, as I still try to recover from the multiple “hells” I went through these last 8+ years. I have also upset and offended many good people in my PTSD drunken stupor. No excuse. I keep people away as best as possible.
I have written the anger off my system on this blog, but am still struggling on several fronts. I have written everything and anything regarding Pret that I know of and forced Pret to secretly change many things while remaining uncredited. But this one is important. I try to keep it short. Haha! 😬
As Pret know my blog and I have posted on different social media channels and emails etc. how Pret’s “freshly made” slogan is also a lie, Pret seem to slowly and quietly change their packaging bit by bit as:
1. I know from experience having worked at Pret where some products are prepared the day before and then just the finishing touches applied the next morning, or even worse, preparations done on Friday or Saturday and then finished on Monday. Seen it countless times over the years. I write extensively on HOW Pret’s food is REALLY “made” in Freshly Prepared Brainwash, with more photos of mouldy food in Pret’s Food isn’t Fresh.
2. Staff have told me that, especially during the pandemic, Pret started to freeze soups (which are cooked in factories anyway and then just re-heated in shops) to prolong expiry dates, as well as soup bags that were cooled off after the water bath, then again re-heated 3-4 times while procedure is to THROW it OUT when the bag is unsold!
Pret soups come in boxes of 4 plastic bags. One plastic bag of soup contains 6 cups for customers, so the cost of throwing even one bag out is quite high, but I did it anyway! Also toasties, uncooked hot wraps and sandwiches are carried over to the next day(s). The soup issue and staff interaction I also put in above “Brainwash” post.
Another staff a while ago contacted me saying that Pret quietly are removing the “freshly made” fridge signs. I have to find that mail, can’t remember if it was via contact form/email or on Twitter, Facebook etc. DM.
3. But more telling is where customers post pictures of mouldy food and use-by dates on social media, as I put in above “Food isn’t Fresh” post.
The familiar sticker: “Made today – Gone today – No ‘sell-by’ date – no night life”
Haha! Of course Pret might claim they now say “use-by” not “sell-by” date!
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And the REALITY, which has always been the case, but now more in the open, WITH the date:
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Close-up:
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This tweet is from 12.07.2023 but the use-by date is for the next day 13.07.2023. And no, don’t be fooled when Pret might say that when customers buy the product they can put it in their fridge overnight for the next day. Nopes, PRET themselves will have this in the fridge for the next day(s).
READY TO (CH)EAT:
And having worked at Pret seeing countless times staff PEELING off labels and then re-attaching a new date on the old product to avoid waste. Staff do that since forever with expiry dates on ingredients. I explain this in detail on my podcast on HOW staff cheat. And no, in case you wonder, I never did that because when caught you get fired unless you’re “close” friends with the manager or OPs manager. This was the main reason why I was never promoted beyond team leader level. But I didn’t care. I slept well at night and never had to look over my shoulder.
I worked at Caffe Nero where they also stretch the dates of the cakes with a label-gun individually on defrozen cakes. And I even went after the manager when my boss left, I went back to the cakes and re-attached the REAL date!
Nero customers always complained that the cakes are hard and taste dry, and I was always embarrassed about it. My manager would always peel off the old date and attach a new extended date. I then went after it once my manager was gone for the day and changed it back to the old date and WASTED all the cakes that expired that day or days before!
DON’T HIRE ME if you want me to cheat! Not going to happen! I made mistakes in general, but not cheats with health, safety and quality! Do with it what you want!
I got myself in “unwritten” trouble with Pret management when I told colleagues to please not risk their jobs by “stretching” dates (peel off old date, attach new date) for management. Managers let team leaders and staff in general do the dirty work for them.
REVIEWS:
And yet, customers leave tons of reviews on Trustpilot, Google etc. and all social media channels on the low food quality and stale, even mouldy food in Pret.61% of customers on Trustpilot (as of July 2023) aren’t happy with Pret, many even vowing to never set foot inside Pret again.
Here is my BIASED opinion of a Trustpilot customer review being my favourite. Quote from 01. May 2023:
“Why Pret deserves to fail
The Pret on Marylebone St, literally closed the door in my face. Said they were closing, still staff working the counters.
Pret deserves to fail. From a once customer focused company its now a brand which needs to go”
Of course Pret won’t fail, CEO Pano Christou having come from McDonald’s as a manager started at Pret as an assistant manager 20 odd years ago, has come full circle turning Pret into a low-quality McDonald’s-type business. And don’t forget that Pret sold 33% to McD in the late 1990’s to get their foot into the U.S. market. McD sold their part again of course. JAB seem asleep but they might wake up and consider to sell Pret to the next private equity “pimp” to further squeeze the lifeblood out of the brand. Do what you do best.
NOTHING can touch Pret, not even customer fatalities.
I recently got yet anotherreddit post hidden for pointing out that Pret are actually a small company, after 40 years in business when someone claimed Pret was HUGE. Nope, they ain’t! They just missed the train to become too big to fail.
And the recently opened Toronto, Canada pop-up already has 1 star reviews with one customer wishing he could give 0 stars. People don’t know that Pret received £485million from owners JAB and shareholders during the pandemic closures, with the ridiculous task to speed-open 200 shops worldwide by the end of 2023, and to double in size by 2025.
This pressure leads to not only further food safety issues, lack of staff training, but also shows how Pret cheat by opening little pop-ups in existing businesses to reach that target. Canada is the best example. And even India already starts to get complaints DAYS after opening.
I’m sure Pret by now have found the negative customer reviews, many which are written under people’s names with accounts showing many other reviews. So, Pret can’t claim that these are fake or biased, like Julian Metcalfe claimed.
But with the staff reviews on Glassdoor and Indeed having mysteriously improved into more positive reviews, despite the lack of, exhausted and increasingly rude/aggressive staff, watch the next few months when customer reviews improve as well. Once Pret finds out about the poor customer reviews watch positive reviews increase in the coming months. 😉
And, as a friend of the original Pret founder Jeffrey Hyman told me on Twitter that Pret recruited someone to keep changing the Wikipedia entry on Pret having opened in 1986 (not 1983) to avoid mentioning Hyman, from my experience with Pret’s dishonesty and trickery, I believe that.
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Just few of the many customer complaints on Pret’s new India outlet, most are on Instagram:
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You simply can’t fool paying-customers! They TRUST their senses regardless of what sweet-talking bullsh!t Pret give in the press and on social media. And Pret’s time to fool the public like they did in “fat” and rich times pre-2018 customer deaths news and pre-pandemic is over. In lean times the real face shows!
Where people on social media did NOT believe me when I started to expose Pret in May 2018, many even blocking me, cussing me out, now it’s common knowledge how bad Pret really are. And no, people didn’t always block or cuss me out because I posted drunken tweets, that’s understandable and expected. But I was often just linking them to evidence they didn’t want to know about. Ignorance is bliss, and I destroyed their bliss! Sorry, but I care about your health more than your wishful-thinking of a multi-billion £$ fairy-tale company that cares NOTHING about you, except for your money!
“Sometimes people don’t want to hear the truth because they don’t want their illusions destroyed.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
Pret RE-founder Julian Metcalfe once tweeted to me (RT’d my comments) that itsu staff reviews on him are biased as anyone with an anonymous account can just leave a review. Yes, he has a point, of course, but 1. why would anyone leave a fake negative review for what reason? And 2. the CUSTOMER reviews on Pret are often done under people’s names with an extensive review history on their profiles! So, try again!
Plus, pictures of mouldy food speak louder than a 1000 words as we know.
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“NATURAL” Fools:
Pret were banned from claiming their food is “natural”, so they changed the packaging and logo from “organic coffee – natural food” to “organic coffee – freshly made food” (I question their claim to do organic coffee as the beans are so cheap and Pret stopped fair-trade already years ago. Plus, customers don’t like Pret’s coffee! But that’s another matter).
And now, Pret also changed the packaging from “freshly made food” to “handmade each day” via a few humps. Pret again play with customers assumptions to think the food is “freshly” made each day while it’s not. It’s a safe way for Pret to cover their stinking asses, as they are not claiming “freshly made” on the packaging, while it’s still on their logo on shops. Customers will assume it’s freshly made after years of brainwash.
Before the freshly made bad hair-day:
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Now as in 12.07.2023 Pret seems to have run out of space to squeeze in the “freshly” bit.
Of course it’s cheaper to change the packaging of the next batch in the factory once the old batch is used, than it is to change the logo for the entire brand on shop fronts. Pret threatened a three-man London small bakery with the name “Bread A Manger” with legal action to change their name. At first the bakery wanted to resist, but quickly bowed to the pressure and changed their name to “Bread And Macaroon” to save money on the “BM” logo. They estimated that the brand-name change for that ONE little shop would cost them £8000!
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Funny enough, there are businesses with the name “Pronto Pret A Manger” or “Miss Pret A Manger” and others with the exact “pret a manger” term in their names. They also sell food, but Pret choose to pick on this small business with a LESS similar name! Knowing Pret like the back of my hand, they always look for the LEAST resistance and the most vulnerable to pick on.
Pret, including Clive Schlee, David Carter (HR), Lila Warren and a host of OPs managers and shop managers tried their best while I was traumatically bereaved. But you simply don’t pick a fight with a traumatised person who has nothing to lose and think you get away with it, stupid!
You just don’t do that, fathermucker!
And little side-note, I’ve been exposing Pret since 5+ years now, and Pret don’t have the balls to threaten me with a lawsuit! I wonder why, I wonder why!
If Pret were to sue me or make a public statement about me, it would open a can of worms for them and have my blog land on Wikipedia, like Andrej Stopa is mentioned on Wiki after Pret made a public announcement about why they fired him. So, they remain silent about me. Fncking cowards!
Someone anonymous already mentioned my blog on Wiki, but it got deleted as the main editor doesn’t have evidence that my experience is legit like they have with Andrej, because Pret made a public statement in 2012. Despite me having evidence. Doesn’t matter.
I was positively shocked one day to find in my blog statistics that 10 visitors came from Wikipedia. I made the mistake to contat the main editor, and the rest is history (as in my blog being deleted again off Wiki. There you go).
Whoever put my blog on Wiki. Thank you. I guess I upset too many egos, so it got deleted. Or, maybe I just am too much of a woman to feature in a man’s world of greed.
Yep, I’m playing THAT card, because it’s true!
Whoever put my blog on Wiki, I’d like to buy you a coffee in an indie business. But that will never happen of course.
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I tried to reach out to formerly Bread A Manger to NOT bow, but failed to reach them. Oh well, I tried!
If rebranding costs a small independent shop £8K, do a rough calculation how much it would cost Pret to change their shop logo and branding across the company worldwide. Especially since Pret already had to change it around 2018 to take the word “natural” off! They might have to lower staff wages again to pay for it! 😉
“French-run London bakery accuses Pret A Manger of ‘bullying’ over demand for name change”.
But if you read Pret’s social media posts, and ESPECIALLY advertisers and PR firms for Pret, they all emphasise and keep repeating the brainwash of “freshest” food, “freshly made food”, “fresh food” etc. The public is hypnotised with “fresh, fresh, fresh …” I can’t help but think that this is Pret’s typical chaos in their communications. The memo hasn’t gotten through yet.
For example also, after 3 years of tweeting about and at Pret, Pret finally blocked me on Twitter around 2020-ish. Pret also DISABLED the comment section on Instagram where I can see my comments when logged in, but it’s hidden from the public when logged out. Pret did not block me on Instagram nor on Facebook (as of July 2023) while I’m blocked on Twitter. Pret’s typical inconsistencies.
ORGANIC COFFINS – NATURAL FOOLS:
Also, when former CEO Clive Schlee was on Twitter before his account was deleted in 2020, he never blocked me, while Pano Christou when he was UK Managing Director and before he deleted his Twitter account in July 2019, blocked me.
I changed Pret’s logo already years ago when customer deaths and injuries became public. Pret didn’t even tell us staff about it. And former CEO Clive Schlee kept mentioning in interviews that his wife always said to him that “any damn fool can run Pret“!
Yes, Clive did, and so does Pano. Where Clive ran the ship into an iceberg, Pano is sinking it!
I think this logo more reflects reality.
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And apart from poor customer reviews …
SALES ARE DOWN:
The Office for National Statistics has posted that Pret’s transactions are down in MOST locations, while Pret and business partners/PR firms work hard to portray Pret to be thriving.
Granted, it is summer when many customers are on holiday. BUT the customer reviews cannot be ignored.
That’s what you get when you start turning into “card-only” shops and p!ss customers off with the flawed coffee subscription, exhausted/rude staff, dirty shops, mouldy food, closed toilets even for paying customers with disabilities etc. etc. etc.
But how about looking into Pret’s packaging they quietly change, their signs, logos, claims?
Ooops, it’s gotten long again!
But I finish with a YouTube slide of “Pret’s Year in Review 2022” that I do each year. Can’t wait for the upcoming year in review 2023 at the end of December with some really juicy customer posts, and some from staff. The choice this year is very hard, that’s the best part! And it’s only July! 😀
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I worked at Pret A Manger and survived systemic workplace bullying during bereavement that involved HR, the top leadership, HQ and even the now “retired” former CEO Clive Schlee. Schlee has been appointed CEO of itsu in 2024 by Julian Metcalfe who gave him the CEO spot at Pret many years ago. I declined 4 settlement offers if I am silent about my ordeal. But I rather speak out to help others. For an overview of important blog entries of my experience with Pret, please visit “My Ordeal with Pret A Manger”. The little arrow to the right next to each heading will lead directly to the post. An incomplete list on what other Pret staff say about Pret’s bullying environment: Caught in the Act Bullying at Pret and What shop MANAGERS & HQ staff say about Pret incl. CEO Pano Christou. I tell my story for the first time verbally in below audio player interview on a podcast by The Adam Paradox, and wrote two articles in the Scottish Left Review as well as mentioned by the BBC.
Please also see the MEDIA page for more on my work with the press.
Bullied during bereavement in Pret A Manger 
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