The British brand is expected to open its first outlet in the first quarter of the next calendar year
For Pret, India seemed a natural fit given its vast English-speaking population and the huge connectivity between the two countries
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“We think Pret is unique. It cuts across age groups and social stature, and ticks so many boxes—a combination of restaurant formats, hot and cold food, food and beverages. And their success across continents shows their format is transportable. The fact that it sits in a unique zone makes it a home run for us,” says Darshan Mehta, MD, Reliance Brand Ltd. For Pret, India seemed a natural fit given its vast English-speaking population and the huge connectivity between the two countries, says CEO Pano Christou, who has led the organisation since October 2019. “From that perspective, there is already strong knowledge of the brand.” The company faced severe Covid backlash in 2020 when its sales more than halved and it was forced to close some of its outlets for several months, but it has previously said it planned to double the size of its business on the back of a £100 million infusion from Luxembourg-based conglomerate JAB Holdings and Sinclair Beecham, one of their co-founders. “There has been a huge bounceback of business post-Covid. Equally, we have a substantial airport business. While we have about 10 percent of our stores at airports, the sales volume within those locations are 3-4-5x of some of our high-street locations,” says Christou. “I flew through Mumbai airport yesterday, and would definitely love to see a Pret store there in future.”
In its first foray into F&B retail, Reliance Brands (RBL), a subsidiary of Reliance Retail, has announced its strategic partnership with global sandwich chain Pret A Manger (meaning ‘ready to eat’ in French). The UK-based chain, which launched in London in 1986 and now has over 550 outlets across 10 countries in three continents, is looking to open its first outlet in Mumbai in the January to March quarter next year.