TL;DR - Pret offers the best value for both coffee and food.

Firstly, the main coffee chains in the UK (IMO) are the big 4: Pret A Manger, Cafe Nero, Starbucks and Costa.

Starting at the bottom, the worst is Costa. The coffee is average at best and expensive for what it is. The food is forgettable and the fact that their milk is always in a bag is just weird and oddly off-putting .

Starbucks comes next. However, it is honestly a toss-up between Starbucks and Cafe Nero. The only reason Starbucks is ranked lower than Cafe Nero is the price. Their coffee is decent and the variety of the menu is good. Their Frappuccinos are not to my taste but that is not a knock on them. Similarly, their food is good. All of this can be echoed for Cafe Nero, but I feel that the variety and quality of coffee is a tiny bit better than Starbucks. Apart from that, the two are pretty much neck and neck.

And so we come to Pret. Their coffee is not only good but it represents good value with its set prices. However, where Pret really sets itself apart is with its food. Their range of sandwiches and salads are terrific, as is their range of breakfast foods. I would admit that the food can be very expensive but it is nevertheless good.

Analysis of Pret's Treatment of Workers

Positives

• Pret's apprenticeship scheme offers employees with fully funded, even paid, training and qualifications all the way up to a bachelors degree in business management.
• With the announcement of JAB Holding’s £1.5bn takeover of Pret, 12,000 employees worldwide will receive a £1,000 payment once the deal goes through.
• Their hired staff are very diverse, with only an estimated one in 50 of its job applicants being from British job seekers, and as many as 65% of its staff from the EU.
• After Pret struggled to recruit workers after Brexit and the pandemic, they recently followed Costa in giving staff a 5% pay rise.

Negatives

• However, this 5% pay rise follows what was essentially a 6% pay cut in the decision to scrap paid breaks.
• They are not accredited living wage employers (however, neither are Costa, Nero or Starbucks).
• Pret attempted to exploit young workers by having them work unpaid shifts.