Prêt a Manger?

Take a trip to your local branch of Prêt a Manger and the chances are you'll be made aware of their "fresh ingredients" boasts. So the news that the high street chain is importing frozen chicken from Brazil may come as a surprise to you as it did to me. I used to greatly admire Prêt whose headquarters is in Hudson Place beside Victoria Station. It was set up by two college friends with its first shop in Victoria Street and in the early days Julian Metcalfe’s parents kitchen in their flat near Westminster Cathedral supplied the shop. They aimed to shake up the British sandwich market. However McDonalds bought a 33% share in 2001 (since sold last year at a considerable profit to Bridgepoint Capital) and there was concern that they would lose their ethical edge. These concerns now seem to have been borne out.

The chain which boasts its ingredients are 'the best, natural stuff' has come under fire for importing frozen chicken from Brazil. The meat in Prêt a Manger's 'Just Made' chicken sandwiches is frozen and then shipped more than 6,000 miles to the UK. The £200million-a-year firm says it uses the South American chicken because the animals are treated well there. It claims the meat is produced in better 'animal welfare' conditions than those employed by companies which supply rival sandwich makers.

Sourcing chicken from the South American country is cheaper for British companies than using UK meat, with wages for workers typically 700 reais a month – that is about £250 a month or £3,000 a year. "Conditions are not great, but they could be worse," said Eurides Silva, the president of a local food workers union. On top of their wages, workers will typically get a free basket of basic food in exchange for a 44 hour week. There is no health plan while cases of repetitive injuries among the mainly female workforce, who spend all day stripping chickens by hand, are common.
"There are lots of repetitive stress injuries to the wrist, the elbow and the shoulder," said Mr Silva, "It's repetitive work and fast. There are also a lot of muscle problems. Some companies have stretching exercises and gymnastics to help workers be more limber but a lot don't want to bother. It isn't ideal, if you want to avoid having these kinds of injuries." Workers, he said, also bemoan conditions in the processing plants where the temperature has to be kept around 14 degrees and so "it is cold and wet and that is a common complaint".

Patrick Holden, director of the Soil Association, the body that certifies organic food in the UK, is scathing of the mass market chicken industry that has grown up in Brazil, using limited grain and Soya supplies to fatten up chickens. Mr Holden said: "It is out of sight and out of mind. We are living off unsustainable chicken systems and we are not facing up to the inconvenient truth that our addiction to white meat has to be confronted."


Cheer up lads - You'll be in London soon!

When it arrives in the UK, Prêt's Brazilian chicken is defrosted, marinated and poached before being used in a range of sandwiches such as coronation chicken, simple Caesar chicken and chicken and red roasted peppers. The company earned £8.6million last year from its range of chicken products. Although there is no suggestion that the imported meat is harmful to health, campaigners have raised concerns at boasts that it is fresh.

The revelation comes a week after it emerged the chain's 'spankingly fresh' sushi was in fact frozen in Chile and shipped in. This outraged environmentalists, who warned of the huge carbon footprint this created. Prêt, which has built its reputation on 'good natural food', is not required to state on food labels where its meat is sourced from. Packaging on its chicken range says: 'Just Made (never from a factory). A fresh Prêt sandwich doesn't need a "use by" date. We make our food in every Prêt kitchen using amazing ingredients. The best, natural stuff you'd want to use at home.'



On its website it boasts that its chicken is never processed more than needed. Corinne Low, of the British Standards Trading Institute, said the wording was misleading as the government's Foods Standards Agency counted anything which has been frozen as having been processed. She said: 'The term "fresh ingredients" should only be used where its intended meaning is no processed ingredients have been used.'

Robert Newbery, the chief poultry advisor to the National Farmers' Union, said: 'Processed meat should carry clearer labelling to encourage people to buy British.' Brian Young, director general of the British Frozen Foods Federation, however, claimed meat producers here could not meet the demand. Britain shipped in 143,000 tons of cheap chicken, the equivalent of 60million birds, from Brazil and Thailand alone last year.

Yesterday Pret's co-founder Julian Metcalfe pledged that by 2012 Prêt would sell only British free range chicken - which costs on average three times more. Mr Metcalfe said: 'People should buy less chicken or buy proper chicken. We have got to move free range by 2012. This is about bigger issues than the word "fresh".'

I’m amazed that "fresh food" Prêt-a-Manger with "nothing bad in it" imports frozen chicken from Brazil which it then defreezes, poaches and marinades before putting in its "made in the shop" sandwiches, imports frozen crayfish from China and, most amazing, its "Fresh Sushi" frozen, yes frozen, from Chile! Maybe the most amazing thing is I've paid them £3.80 for a chicken sandwich!! - NO MORE, NO WAY!!!