Dah!
Pret “doing the right thing naturally” again, by making promises, then breaking them, and then moving the deadline 5 years further down the road, in hopes people forget.
… “it’s what makes Pret, Pret”.
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Animal rights activists do NOT forget and have started a brilliant campaign: dumping oversized chickens in front of every Pret store. I’d suggest dumping some in front of Pret’s head office 75B, Verde, 10 Bressenden Place, London SW1E 5DH.
In 2018 when I started to write publicly about Pret, I came across a video regarding animal cruelty with chickens and Pret being part of this. Shortly after the video was made “unlisted”, but I posted it in a post in 2022 after animal rights activists reminded Pret again of their promise to phase out the use over fast growing chicken aka “frankenchicken”.
Little reminder that Pret were already banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in 2018 from advertising their food as “natural”. Pret lied there as well as they lie pretty much about everything. And if there is truth, it is to serve a lie.
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Link to The Independent article
You bet they don’t care about animal welfare.
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What is frankenchicken?
In short, chickens are being fed very fast leading to oversized bodies that make them suffer incredibly.
Short video on YouTube how it started and how LARGE the chickens get in short time:
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Monstrous 4 Metre Chicken dumped outside Pret. The group want to visit all Pret stores in London to dump the huge chickens in front of shops.
Photos of the campaign including above header picture, credit:
Tom Woolard / Anima
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I love how they even use a A-Boards, the same that Pret use, with an oversized chicken on a wrap and text saying “FrankenWrap – Unimproved recipe”. Brilliant!!!
Pret basically told the group they will meet the target in 5 years. In 5 years Pret will have new excuses, on and on it goes.
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I am beyond mind-boggled that people STILL believe that Pret are ethical and caring. It’s beyond my comprehension!
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The Caterer quotes Pret CEO Pano Christou: “We are encouraged by our start to 2026, particularly as more customers are choosing Pret despite the financial pressure many households continue to face. Over the past few years, we have invested significantly in our menu and in better value for money for our customers, while also continuing to support our amazing team members and improve the Pret customer experience. These results give us confidence that when we stay focused on the customer, we can continue to win the hearts and minds of Pret fans in the UK and around the world.” End of quote.
First of all, of course more customers are going to Pret as Pret are speed-opening worldwide to double in size by the end of 2026 as tasked by their owners JAB Holdings.
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THAT is where Pret KEEP their target to double in size by the end of the year as set in 2023.
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Secondly, better value for money? Pano Christou as usual has his head in the sand at best, or lies, at worst. 71% of reviewers on Truspilot (1 & 2 stars combined) are fed up with Pret for a variety of reasons, but especially the poor quality and smaller sizes for hiked prices. One customer of 31 years has also now stopped going to Pret.
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Link to review
For more reviews, scroll down to the blue oval sign saying “See all xxxx reviews):
https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/pretamanger.co.uk?stars=1&stars=2&stars=3
Little side note, Pret had and ignored TWO customer deaths and dozens of injuries before it got public, ONLY responding when it got public. Pret ignored multiple warnings where people landed in hospital from unlabelled allergens, the warnings came before and after fatalities.
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In what illusion do people live in to expect Pret to care about animal welfare when they don’t even give a toss about life and death issues with their human customers!
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In The Times article from 8th June it says, quote:
“Pret A Manger will be targeted by a £1 million animal welfare campaign after breaking its promise to phase out the use of fast-growing “frankenchickens” by 2026.
All of the sandwich chain’s London stores will be visited by activists in what is believed to be the most well-funded animal welfare campaign ever directed at a UK food company.
Anima, the animal welfare organisation, will begin the campaign with advertisements on the London Underground, street corners, and a fleet of mobile billboards, as well as full-page newspaper ads and a stunt involving the “world’s biggest Pret wrap”, a car-sized replica stuffed with a four-metre-long fast-growing chicken.” End of quote.
I clipped the 9th June 2026 Times Radio interview of Anima (formerly Open Cages) CEO Connor on Kate McCann and Stig Abell with Times Radio Breakfast. It’s close to 7 minutes long and starts at about 1 hour 53 minutes into the 4 hour show.
Connor Jackson is asked why Pret are targeted when other companies are much worse and even stopped their commitment to stop “frankenchickens”. Jackson mentions the importance of the physical health of the chickens. I personally also believe that Pret are often the target of activist campaigns BECAUSE Pret make lofty claims on ethics, labour issues, healthy food etc. while being the complete opposite. I don’t know any other company that makes so so so so many “too-good-to-be-true” claims than Pret! Hence, the more lofty the claims, the more campaigners look closer and target such claims.
Please note, should the audio player show 0:00 on both on the display, just press play anyway.
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Video from today 15.06.2026 on Anima’s Facebook page when the campaign started People are pledging to take a break from Pret. I can tell you, people need to stop altogether because Pret will NOT honour their promise.
Link to Facebook.
Connor Jackson’s statement from 9th June 2026 on X:
https://twitter.com/CMJackson_/status/2064425778595459398
Start of quote:
“In the Times Radio studio this morning announcing @anima_uk’s £1m campaign holding Pret to account for its broken promise to chickens.
In 2018, Pret A Manger committed to phasing out fast-growing chickens by 2026. Never in a million years did I expect we’d end up here. I thought that Pret would follow through and ‘do the right thing’ on its own. But sadly not.
Eight years on, and Pret has broken its commitment, making 0% progress. Rather than set out a credible plan to fix this, Pret has moved the deadline to 2032 with no steps for another five years. That’s not a commitment. It’s an empty promise (link to progress update).
We did everything we could to avoid going public. For two years we maintained a regular dialogue with Pret, asking the company to make demonstrable progress towards honouring its commitment. But it refused to take any steps at all, and instead kicked the can down the road.
That’s what this campaign is about. Fast-growing chickens remain on the menu at Pret just like KFC. The difference is that Pret is pretending they are still committed to doing better. We aim to change that.”
End of quote.
Repeat:
“For two years we maintained a regular dialogue with Pret, asking the company to make demonstrable progress towards honouring its commitment. But it refused to take any steps at all,”
Pret refused to take any steps AT ALL! Yep, sounds just like Pret. It’s what makes Pret, Pret.
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In an interview Connor Jackson further says:
“Pret now has a choice: follow Waitrose and move away from these ultra fast-growing breeds, or follow KFC and Burger King in betraying chickens and walking away from animal welfare commitments entirely. This attempt to kick the can five more years down the road tells you which direction it is heading. This campaign is about ensuring that Pret delivers a credible plan towards fulfilment of its commitment.” End of quote.
Well done for not giving up and being tenacious in the pursuit of animal welfare, and also holding Pret to account on their empty words.
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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.
NEW LinkTree.
Thank you for reading/listening.
©2017 – Present: expret.org
A recent Interview on a Grief Podcast based in Seattle, WA, USA:
(Please be aware if the player shows 0:00 just press play)
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Bullied during bereavement in Pret A Manger 
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