We believe air freighting fruit and veg is completely over the top. It's unnecessary and, with the exception of basil leaves (and in the case of an emergency), we don't do it. At certain times of the year, basil lets us down. We're working hard to find a supplier closer to home. 

We're proud of the food we sell and ensure we have a thorough knowledge of all our ingredients and products. Where our food comes from, how it's farmed, reared, harvested, produced and delivered is important to us. We want to know everything about it. Wherever possible we buy British and seasonal produce e.g. English apple juice, English raspberries, wild strawberries for our compote, cherries, gooseberries and Wiltshire-cured ham.

We insist on high standards of animal welfare. How come the price of a fresh chicken has come down over the last ten years? How can a whole bird be bought for only £2.20? What are they doing to it? Trans fats, weird bulking agents, strange oils, yield-enhancing drugs and preserving potions, not to mention bucket loads of sugar, are dumped in our food these days. Pret is passionate about food. We shun the obscure chemicals, additives and preservatives common to so much ‘prepared’ and ‘fast food’. We do this because natural, fresh food tastes better than processed food and it’s good for you.

But what’s good for the environment?

Is farmed salmon better than wild salmon? Pret uses sustainable Alaskan wild salmon in our Smoke Roasted Salmon sandwich.

Would you be prepared to pay twice as much for a free-range organic chicken sandwich? We're working with UK free-range farmers now.

Is it best to use local produce or sea-freight organic produce from overseas? We use Fairtrade mango from the Philippines. 

Is Fairtrade coffee better than Rainforest Alliance coffee or organic? Pret's 'Just Roasted' coffee has three-badge certification: organic, Fairtrade and Rainforest Alliance and is prepared with organic milk (or soya if you prefer).

These are challenging questions with no simple answers. We tackle them, one by one. We listen to the arguments and weigh up the evidence. Fingers crossed, we make the right decisions.

For instance, whilst we do not air freight our fruit and veg, we understand that for many farmers, particularly in developing countries, air freight is an important way to get goods to market and that those goods contribute a great deal towards social and economic developments. It's a sustainability conundrum.

At Pret, we have long supported developing countries through the sale of such products as ethically sourced coffee, Fairtrade mangoes, avocados, Rainforest Alliance bananas etc, but these are always shipped rather than air freighted. The environmental impact is lessened and farmers still supported. So whilst we continue to avoid air freighting unless it's absolutely necessary, we will always try to balance and consider all sustainability impacts, environmental, social and economic when selecting our products.

All our meat and dairy produce is farmed to the standards of British Farm Assured. In most cases we exceed these standards.

Our chickens

All of us at Pret think the recent publicity, the research and knock-on effects are, whilst shocking, long overdue.

We refer to our chickens as 'open barn'. By 'open barn' we mean lower density, plenty of natural light and freedom to wander.

The chickens we buy are raised in airy, open-sided sheds. They do not stand around in their faeces. The idea of 'processing' chickens crammed into tiny cages with no room and no daylight is abhorrent to us.

We do not allow our farms to employ a routine use of antibiotics. The feed the chickens are given is GM-free, natural, vegetarian. Basically maize, wheat and soybeans.

Our London test shops have introduced free-range 'Devonshire Red' chicken. The trial is going very well. Slow growing and reared only in the West Country in large, grassy paddocks shaded with trees and shrubs, our birds are free to forage and scratch around all day long. Our Free-Range Chicken & Rocket sandwich sells for £3.75. Research tells us that we'd lose the majority of our customers if we insisted on selling only expensive sandwiches like this (even if we could source enough free-range chicken to make them). Maybe we'll end up with both free-range and open barn and let you, the customer, decide.

The fact is, Pret introduced organic milk, free-range eggs and endless other preservative-free ingredients long before the 'market' generally considered them appropriate. We will continue to pioneer preservative-free, natural food as well as trying to run an efficient business with delicious products and proud staff.

Our eggs

Pret only uses free-range eggs sourced from the UK and occasionally mainland Europe. These are used in all products including muffins, cakes and sauces. Pret was recently awarded a Good Egg Award by Compassion In World Farming (CIWF) for using only free-range eggs in all of our products.

Our cows

All our cattle are free-range and usually grass fed. The cows are brought in and housed in barns during bad weather. This makes their lives much more comfortable. Even when brought inside they are guaranteed natural light.

All Pret milk is organic and has been for years. Rachel's Organic, who supply us, were recently voted the UK's best organic dairy.

The picture above shows our cows happy to be outside again after the winter!

Our pigs

The pork that we use for our bacon and ham is farmed to the standards of British Farm Assured. Wherever possible we source from UK farms.  

Our ham is Wiltshire cured and our bacon slow cured and never pumped with water.

Our fish

We use wild salmon from Alaska in our Smoke Roasted Salmon sandwich. This is a natural and sustainable source of salmon with full Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification.

Our tuna is dolphin-friendly but we're looking at ways to further improve its sustainability. We're currently investigating sourcing pole- and line-caught tuna.

Our crayfish stocks are wild but closely regulated. We never add saccharine to sweeten the flavour.

Our smoked salmon is farmed rather than wild. This is far from perfect and we're investigating alternatives. For now, the farmed salmon we do use is from low-density farms. Fast flowing water is passed over the stocks in order to replenish oxygen and remove waste, and they are fed a GM-free diet. Our salmon supplier's farms are working towards the RSPCA Freedom Food accreditation. This should be achieved by autumn 2008. 

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