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Pret A Manger has left customers feeling cheesed off by selling “Britain’s worst-value baguette”.
If you order a Posh Cheddar & Pickle sarnie at a London Tube station and decide to eat in, it'll cost you a hefty £7.15. It's very steep for those looking to have lunch on a crunch – so unsurprisingly, people aren't happy about it.
On social media, one customer fumed: "What the f*** is happening here… I want it to own a country estate for that money."
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Another said: “That must be Britain’s worst-value baguette. For that price you could buy enough to make ten of them.”
And a third added: "I deliberately didn't buy this baguette yesterday when I saw the price… nearly fell over with shock! Opted for the cheaper sandwich but still felt mugged off."
So is the baguette worth the price? We decided to give it a try for ourselves.
Lunch is my favourite time of the day so the pressure was really on as I made the short 100m journey from the office to the nearest Pret in Canary Wharf.
As soon as I walked through the doors, I was greeted with a fridge full of sandwiches. And there it was, the infamous Cheddar & Pickle baguette.
Full disclaimer, the price was a little less severe away from the train concourse. It cost £6 to eat in or £4.99 to take out, which still seemed like daylight robbery.
Slapping the word "Posh" in the product description didn't make me feel like I was getting a good deal.
Pret describes the onion as "freshly sliced", which isn't really something to be showing off about. And the "free-range mayo", "roasted tomatoes" and "mustard cress" didn't fill me with much excitement either.
But in the name of our hard-hitting investigation, I sucked it up and winced as I tapped my contactless card.
Then it was time for the taste test – and if I'm going to be perfectly honest with you, it was a pretty nice baguette.
Unlike other high-street sandwiches, this one actually came with enough filling (you'd bloody well hope so). The cheese was strong, the pickle provided a tasty tang and there was a pleasant crunch from the onions.
Our verdict – 3.5/5. A pretty solid lunch option but definitely not worth the eye-watering price tag.
Not only could you make it yourself for a fraction of the cost, there are definitely better value options around if you're treating yourself to lunch.
You'd be able to get TWO Tesco Meal Deals, which cost £3.40-£3.90, for the same price of a single Posh Cheddar & Pickle Baguette from a train station. The taste isn't drastically different – plus these come with drinks and a snack too!
A Pret spokesperson said: "Prices of our products are typically higher at train stations or transport hubs, due to higher operational costs, and like all food-to-go retailers, dine in prices are subject to 20 per cent VAT, as is the case with the price quoted here for our Posh Cheddar Baguette.
"The vast majority (87%) of our sales in the UK are for takeaway, so most customers are not subject to the additional 20% VAT.
"Like all businesses, we are facing intense cost pressures, which we are trying to absorb as much as possible. We continue to offer great value for high-quality, freshly made food and organic coffees, alongside a dedicated value range of sandwiches, Made Simple.
"We also recently doubled the Club Pret discount to help customers save even more, so subscribers now enjoy 20% off everything in shop and up to five barista prepared drinks per day for £30 per month."
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