A man who picked up a £10 Too Good To Go bag from Pret a Manger was less than impressed by one item in his bag – but others said his haul was great value for money
Buying a Too Good To Go bag from any cafe or restaurant can be a gamble. The bags are designed to help businesses cut down on food waste by selling off food that would otherwise be thrown away at heavily discounted prices, meaning customers can swipe a bargain while businesses don’t have to throw out so much food at the end of the day.
The downside of the bags, however, is you can’t guarantee what food an establishment will need to throw away, so you can either hit the jackpot with a pile of Greggs sausage rolls or get very unlucky and end up with nothing but vegetables. One man on social media recently took the plunge, bought mystery items from Pret a Manger, and had mixed reactions about what was inside.
Carmie Siletto shared a video on Instagram in which he said he paid £10 for the Too Good To Go bag from his local Pret shop, and had yet to see what items he’d managed to get for his money.
Sticking his hand into the bag, he first pulled out a wrap which he claimed had “no name”. Pret a Manger products don’t have labels on the front telling you what the item is when you buy it, but full product information – including the name, full ingredients, and any allergy information – can be found on the back of the packaging.
Carmie admitted this was his “first time ever trying Pret”, and his first impression of the wrap was that it was “really good”. He later found the product information and said it was a chicken and pesto wrap, and gave it a very high score of 9.5/10.
Next, he picked up a bag which contained a white chocolate and cranberry cookie, which he gave an 8.5/10 as he had no other words to describe it other than a satisfying hum that escaped him as he ate it.
The third item he pulled out left him crestfallen, however, as he wrapped his hands around something he knew he wouldn’t be a fan of – a salmon sandwich.
He said: “I knew it was too good to be true. We have a salmon sandwich. If you know me, I don’t really like cold salmon, but I’ll give it a try anyway, as the Pret salmon might be good.”
But to Pret’s credit, Carmie said the salmon “wasn’t that bad,” and it “surprised” him how much he enjoyed the sandwich overall. He gave the item a solid 6/10, which was far higher than he would have rated other cold salmon products.
The man was also given a chocolate mousse in his bag, which he gave a 9/10 because he said it was “so chocolatey” but also felt like he wasn’t indulging in something unhealthy.
He then pulled out a ham and cheese toastie, which had not yet been toasted to preserve its freshness, so it was really just a ham and cheese sandwich. But Carmie chose not to heat it up and didn’t want to eat it cold, insisting it would likely be “dry”, so he didn’t give it a rating and said he would try it later.
Finally, Carmie pulled out another wrap, and frustratingly claimed he didn’t know what he was eating because nothing had a label on it. However, it’s possible Carmie wasn’t looking at the correct part of the packaging, as Pret’s packaged products do come with full ingredients on the back.
Despite not being entirely sure what he was eating, Carmie described the product as being like a “meatball sandwich” and said the flavour was “unreal”. He gave the product, which appeared to actually be the falafel, avocado, and chipotle flatbread, an “easy” 7.5/10, and was overall happy with the items he received.
Commenters on Carmie’s post largely said the Too Good To Go bag had been worth the money, as he would have spent much more than £10 buying all those items in the cafe himself.
One person said: “So worth it!” Another added: “Definitely worth it. I can’t believe that you’ve never tried Pret. It’s awesome. One of my favourite places to go when I’m in the UK.”
Too Good To Go states on its website that bags are a surprise because surplus food is hard to predict, so if sausage rolls are the food item which needs getting rid of, that’s what you’ll get in your bag.
They write: “We’ve found that the best way to combat wasting surplus food is by giving stores the flexibility to distribute whatever they have left at the end of the day, which can vary.”
They also acknowledge sometimes customers won’t like the food that’s in their bag. However, they suggest to ensure nothing gets wasted, any unwanted food gets passed on to family, friends, or neighbours.
Pret A Manger has been contacted for comment.
