Pret A Manger to scrap smoothies, frappes and milkshakes

Pret-a-Manger has said it volition halt making smoothies, frappes and milkshakes successful different stroke to its UK customers and drinks subscribers.

The concatenation had antecedently received thousands of complaints that not each drinks included successful its £25-a-month subscription work were available.

Now the blended drinks, which tin beryllium much costly and instrumentality longer to make, volition beryllium phased retired altogether.

Pret said they would beryllium replaced by iced drinks by the summer.

Blenders were being removed to marque mode for caller crystal machines, successful what Pret called "the biggest drinks innovation successful much than 5 years".

Smoothies and frappes volition inactive beryllium disposable successful prime shops until 29 May, it said.

The chain's subscription work launched successful the summertime of 2020 promising 5 drinks a time - with 30 minutes betwixt each order.

The drinks disposable included each coffees, teas, blistery chocolate, effect smoothies, milkshakes and frappes including each extras specified arsenic syrups, pick and other shots of caffeine.

But arsenic reported by the BBC past year, the Advertising Standards Authority received thousands of complaints astir the deficiency of cold, blended drinks.

We spoke to unit who admitted turning disconnected machines due to the fact that of the sheer unit to service immense queues of subscribers. The unit said they told customers the machines were "broken" oregon "we've tally out" oregon "there haven't been immoderate deliveries".

Staff person agelong complained that smoothies instrumentality acold excessively agelong to marque and galore stores person dilatory removed the blended acold drinks from the menus.

One unit subordinate told the BBC: "For the institution it's overmuch much costly to supply smoothies - effect juice, effect - and it takes clip to marque them. There's acold excessively overmuch request from subscribers. The institution volition regenerate them with iced drinks - not blended - which instrumentality overmuch little clip to marque and are cheaper."

Customers person flooded societal media with gripes astir availability of the acold portion constituent of the subscription. Charlotte from Brighton said that she had noticed galore section stores had told her "the acold drinks volition instrumentality successful the summer" and Thomas from London said helium "wouldn't really caput paying a smoothie supplement connected my subscription if availability was amended guaranteed".

He said: "When I complained successful the Great Peter Street branch, they muttered immoderate nonsense astir determination 'not being the request for them' contempt admitting they served 600 a day. I privation they'd beryllium much transparent alternatively than spouting each theses gangly stories".

Fiona from Reading tweeted Pret astir the deficiency of blended drinks and got the reply: "We bash power up our paper each truthful often, and successful bid to escaped up abstraction for caller things we sometimes person to bid farewell to others. There's ever a accidental we mightiness bring these backmost (especially if radical ask), truthful we'll beryllium definite to enactment successful a bully connection with our team."

Pret had suggested frappes and smoothies would beryllium removed from the subscription successful 2021 but it told the BBC: "There was a nationalist outcry truthful Pret listened and kept them arsenic portion of the subscription."

But it seems that contempt the demand, Pret has decided astatine past to driblet each smoothies, frappes and milkshakes from their subscription model.

The institution told the BBC: "To get shops acceptable for the caller range, Pret is opening to instal caller crystal machines successful its UK shops, removing blenders to marque mode for them. Smoothies and frappes volition inactive beryllium disposable successful prime shops until 29 May."

Do you person a drinks subscription with Pret? How volition this impact you? Email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

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