Pret a Manager: Challenges and Future

This assignment analyzes the challenges facing Pret a Manager following the tragic deaths of two customers attributed to their food. It examines various aspects like product safety concerns, market competition (especially in Asia), operational costs, and public perception. The analysis also delves into customer demographics, supplier relationships, competitor landscape, and overall company performance. Finally, it offers recommendations for Pret a Manager to address these challenges and regain customer trust.

Foundation of business
communication

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................1
SWOT: ......................................................................................................................................1
Porters five forces model............................................................................................................2
Issues faced by the company:......................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5

INTRODUCTION
Pret a Manager started their restaurant chain in 1986 which strictly deals in organic
products like sandwiches, coffee etc. In the recent past, two customer of Pret a Manager has died
after eating their dairy free products. The independent authorities have found out that there were
dairy protein traces due to which customer died (Galegher, Kraut and Egido, 2014). Pret has
defended themselves by blaming Coyo who has supplied the product to Pret. In this presentation,
the impact after this incident will be discuss and how they manage it save their brand name.
SWOT:
 Strengths
1. Pret a Manager has been running from past 30 years and have opened more than 450
outlets all over the world. Customers trust on Pret products is increasing significantly.
2. Pret is turning clients into loyal customer as they are serving 300000 customers on a daily
basis.
3. They offers 100% organic foods that's why increasing number of vegans are craving for
Pret's product.
4. They only offers fresh food and whatever remains at the end of the day is donated to the
NGO's.
5. Pret a manager has just acquired for 1.9 dollars billion deal.
 Weaknesses
1. Weak global existence as Pret a Manager is only in 9 countries.
2. Image of the company has been changed after few incident of allergies arises after eating
Pret's products.
3. Pret's can't offer ambience and environment like their competitors due to cost factor.
4. Wastage of unsold foods as it directly affects the operating cost of the company.
5. Low switching cost for the customer as there are so many competitors out there.
 Opportunities
1. Number of vegetarians are increasing remarkably and their mainly products are
vegetarian.
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2. Pret can integrate with the local farmers so that fresh food can be available in low cost.
3. Asian market is still untapped for Pret a Manager.
4. Availability of products is limited for the customer.
5. Pret's can increase their customer base through heavy marketing.
 Threats
1. Their competitors have already established themselves in the market like Starbucks,
White castle or Krispy Kreme.
2. Quality of the food will get disturbed if the quantity increases.
3. Asians country prefers to eat dairy products so the investment in the other market will be
high.
4. Pret have to decrease their operating and fixed cost so that revenue can be generated.
Porters five forces model
This model is use to scan the external environment and how company can overcome their
weaknesses by working on them. In the recent past companies are using this model to form the
strategy so that they can beat the competitors (Pride, Hughes and Kapoor, 2014).
1. Threat of new entrants: Moderate
2. Bargaining power of suppliers: Weak
3. Bargaining power of buyers or customers: Strong
4. Threat of substitutes or substitution: Strong
5. Competitive rivalry or competition: Strong
Threats of new entrants:
Entrants in this industry brings many things like unique products, new taste and
innovative ambience. But the probability of getting failed is high and investments done by the
company is also high. A new company should focus on its quality, quantity, their restaurant
environment and most important the Price. Though there are so many companies which have
already captured half of the market so risk of failing in this is also high. So threat of new entrants
is moderate in nature.
Bargaining power of suppliers:
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In this industry, there are so many farmers who wants to sell their raw products to the
company. As the numbers of farmers are high, their power of bargaining declines. So it benefits
the Pret a manager.
Bargaining power of buyers:
In this era, there are so many option available for the buyer. In context to Pret, more than
100 different outlets are running in London only (Meyer. and Peng, 2016). So if the buyer is not
satisfy with the product then they can switch to different restaurant. That's why bargaining
power of buyer is strong.
Threat of substitute:
There are already big names in the market who has acquired customers across globe. In
context of Pret a Manager, threat of substitute is high because switching cost is low and options
available in the market is high.
Competitive rivalry:
Competition is high as there are big names like Starbucks, Costa coffee, White castle and
Krispy Kreme and many more who have already acquired the customer. All the mentioned
company regularly try to innovate their products or improve their customer experience so that
they can change them into loyal customer. That's why competitive rivalry is high against Pret a
manager.
Issues faced by the company:
1. Pret a manager has acquired by JAB holdings for 1.9 billion dollar. So the tragic loss of
two people after eating their products have raised some concern for their products. So
now its their responsibility to maintain the trust issue of the clients,
2. Entry into Asian market is the biggest challenge to Pret a Manager as what they are
offering is totally different than what Asians prefer.
3. Operating cost of the company should decrease then only they will able to earn some
profit.
Most people are now ignoring to visit pret a manager after the death of two people (Jussila,
Kärkkäinen and Aramo-Immonen, 2014
4. ).
5. Pret a manager should find new supplier other than coyo.
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6. Prices war between big brands and Pret a manager would be a huge concern for the
management.
7. Ban on advertisement of junk foods in Britain would be the first priority of the
managements.
8. Before this death pret a manager has ignored 9 cases of allergies related to Sesame so the
reason behind that should be find out.
Customers: Customers of the company includes all the children and youngsters who like
to eat sandwiches. It includes all the people aged between 5 years to 35 years.
Suppliers: The suppliers of firm includes all those farmers that provides ingredients and
vegetables to firm.
Competitors: Competitors of company includes Starbucks, White castle or Krispy
Kreme. In order to gain high competitive advantage in market, firm needs to adopt appropriate
pricing strategy.
Performance: Performance of firm is good in market as it runs around 100 outlets in
London only.
CONCLUSION
From the above given analysis it has been concluded that due to tragic loss of two people
their brand name has been affected in a bad way and company has a lot to do now if they want to
be the market leader of the industry. Better management, unique strategies, best product and
faithful employees is what makes the company best and Pret a Manager should follow this rule if
they want to be the best.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bovee and Courtland, 2012. Business Communication Today, 10/e. Pearson Education India.
Galegher, J., Kraut, R. E. and Egido, C. eds., 2014. Intellectual teamwork: Social and
technological foundations of cooperative work. Psychology Press.
Pride, W. M., Hughes, R. J. and Kapoor, J. R., 2014.Foundations of business. Cengage
Learning.
Meyer, K. E. and Peng, M. W., 2016. Theoretical foundations of emerging economy business
research. Journal of International Business Studies. 47(1). pp.3-22.
Jussila, J. J., Kärkkäinen, H. and Aramo-Immonen, H., 2014. Social media utilization in
business-to-business relationships of technology industry firms. Computers in Human
Behavior. 30. pp.606-613.
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