Less bread and WFH Fridays – what Pret boss knows about our habits

More of these salads are sold at the end of the day than baguettes and sandwiches, he adds, as people see them as a "very meaningful evening staple" .

With the rise of weight-loss drugs, introducing bigger portion sizes may feel like an unusual move. The bosses of both Greggs and Leon have both told the BBC this is making them rethink sizing.

But Christou says it is too early to tell what impact the drugs will have on businesses.

However, one trend Christou feels is more definite is workers' gradual return to the office after the rise of working from home during the pandemic.

"We do think that might be a slow trend that continues," he says.

He says Fridays are "definitely quieter" in Pret stores, which are concentrated in city centres and transport hubs, and he doesn't think there will be a return to a five-day working week.

Each store will continue to stay open a minimum of five days a week though - whether that be week days or over the weekend, location-dependent.

"My sense is that during Covid, a lot of people that work from home, they had existing relationships with folk in the working environment," he says.

"And there's more and more new people come in to roles and jobs... people want that flexibility, but also understand the importance of human connectivity as well."

Pret is trying to change where its shops are in reaction to these changes in commuting and working patterns, but it has not been able to do so quickly.

As retail analyst Jonathan De Mello says: "Though Pret has pivoted post-Covid to more residential locations rather than purely worker-driven city centre locations, hybrid working continues to impact demand, as the bulk of their estate remains in city centre locations."

Rising costs are clearly a concern for businesses and consumers.

Pret's latest accounts, for 2024, show like-for-like sales were up 2.8%. But overall it made a heavy loss after a £500m writedown linked to a reassessment of the company by owner JAB, which took into account the "uncertain" global economic picture and extra business costs brought in by that year's Autumn Budget.

It also says it faced £20m in higher costs last year due to high levels of food price inflation but didn't pass this on to customers.

The chain is experiencing inflation from the US-Israel war with Iran, Christou says, though he adds there are no supply issues in the UK.

With trucks bringing fresh produce to its 550 stores across the UK every day, Pret has been affected by the fuel price volatility of recent weeks.

Christou says Pret has no plans currently to pass the recent cost increases on to customers who "don't have as much money... [and] are looking more for value".

But it's possible they could feed through to customers if disruption continues.

"We are looking at how we can do everything within our control, to mitigate on costs, to protect our customers," he says.

Whether customers will continue to choose to pay for that convenience remains to be seen.