With this opening, Luxembourg will become the 11th market where the British retailer Prêt à Manger is active. (Photo: Prêt à Manger)

With this opening, Luxembourg will become the 11th market where the British retailer Prêt à Manger is active. (Photo: Prêt à Manger)

Prêt à Manger, the sandwich and coffee break specialist, will open its first Luxembourg outlet in the Royal-Hamilius complex in the summer.

Luxembourg has been added to the list of countries in which Prêt à Manger sells its sandwiches, salads, pastries and coffees around the world: the chain from London is to open its first outlet in the Royal-Hamilius complex, confirms Stéphane Klein, managing director for Prêt à Manger Europe.

“The idea is that the opening can take place just before the summer or during the summer,” he says. The store will offer both onsite and takeaway sales. It will occupy a unit of about 150m2 located to the right of the Post agency, which is on the corner of Place Hamilius.

This opening expands the offer of the complex, which opened at the end of 2019. launched its takeout service in mid-December, as a prelude to the opening of a restaurant space on the first floor in January with 45 seats. The is also expected to open in late spring, above Galeries Lafayette.

Prêt à Manger will occupy this cell on the corner of Place Hamilius and Rue Aldringen. (Photo: Paperjam.lu)

Prêt à Manger will occupy this cell on the corner of Place Hamilius and Rue Aldringen. (Photo: Paperjam.lu)

A continuous offer

Also known as Prêt, the company was founded in London in 1986 with an approach based on fresh ingredients prepared daily on site. Since its inception, it has been committed to donating the day’s unsold food to charities that help the homeless. “It's in Prêt’s DNA,” says Klein.

Today, the fast-food chain maintains this positioning and adds organic products to the list as well as a sustainable development policy that emphasises the hunt for packaging and superfluous plastic.

It also offers customers a coffee subscription with the possibility of enjoying as many hot drinks of their choice as they wish. In France, it currently costs €20 per month. The formula is also planned for Luxembourg, but “we don’t know if it will be available at the opening or not,” says Klein.

There is room for several Prêt à Mangers in Luxembourg.

Stéphane KleinManaging directorPrêt Europe

The product range should be based on that available in other markets, but the company does not rule out some adaptations. This is the case, for example, in France, where mayonnaise has been removed from certain sandwiches in favour of butter.

As for other establishments in the grand duchy, the company says it is concentrating on this first one, but admits that “there is room for several Prêt à Mangers in Luxembourg”.

Prêt targets a clientele of active employees in offices who, throughout the day, can find something to satisfy their hunger. “We know that this is a concept that corresponds to the eating habits that Europeans have and that they like,” the manager says.

500 outlets worldwide

Prêt has 500 outlets in 10 countries around the world: the United Kingdom, France, the United States, Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland and Belgium, where the chain is present at the Brussels-Midi station and, more recently, at Place Rogier.

If Luxembourg was missing from the list, it should be noted that the owner of the chain is none other than JAB Holding, a structure domiciled in the grand duchy, which includes the Coty, Keurig Dr Pepper and Douwe Egberts brands in its portfolio. The holding company bought the Prêt chain in June 2018 for US$2bn.

This article was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.