United Kingdom-based Pret A Manger has signed an exclusive agreement with Chef Express, the company that manages all the catering activities of the Cremonini Group, to launch the brand in Italy.
Located in the departure area of Milan Malpensa Airport’s newly renovated Terminal 2, the new shop has created 25 new jobs and is open on Monday to Thursday and Saturday from 4am to 9:30pm and Friday and Sunday from 4am to 10pm.
“We know Pret has a huge fanbase in Europe, so I’m delighted to be bringing our freshly made food and organic coffee to even more people across the continent. Launching in Italy is a big moment for us and something I’ve been personally looking forward to. We’re excited to be working with Chef Express to help us introduce the Pret experience to people in Milan first, then across the country,” says Pano Christou, Pret A Manger CEO.
Three more openings are planned by the end of the year, including a second shop in the airport’s Terminal 1 and two more in the Grandi Stazioni Retail circuit.
“We are very pleased to partner with Pret A Manger to bring the most famous chain for fresh food and organic coffee to Italy. Our family approach and values, combined with almost 40 years of history and the valuable expertise developed in all channels, are the basis of our success in the catering sector in Italy. With this new agreement, which adds to our partnerships with McDonald’s and Wagamama, Chef Express confirms itself as the ideal partner for the multichannel development of international brands in Italy,” says Cristian Biasoni, CEO of Chef Express.
The new partnership marks another step in Pret’s ambitious growth plan to double the size of its business, by expanding into new countries and regions around the world. Italy becomes the eighth country Pret has launched in since it announced plans to expand into five new markets by the end of 2023.
Pret now has nearly 70 shops across Europe, including in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland and Ireland, and has also announced plans to open shops across Portugal and Spain.
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