by The staggering cost of Pret A Manger’s basic egg sandwich – available from its White House stores – may explain why Kamala Harris could lose the US election.
A Pret egg salad and arugula sandwich costs more than $10 at its local branch, while a salmon, avocado and quinoa salad is just 20 cents shy of $20. In the UK, the equivalent sandwiches and salads are less than half the price.
Pret, which is expanding rapidly across the US with 42 branches in New York alone, seven in Washington DC and its first West Coast stores have now opened in Los Angeles and three in Chicago.
But the huge gulf in prices for the same sandwiches, salads and soups on one side of the Atlantic and the other gives one clue as to why the current vice president wouldn’t go all the way.
The cost of living crisis threatens to cancel his presidential bid. Donald Trump may be controversial for many reasons, but voters trust the economy.
I wonder exactly why its prices are so much higher in the US than in the UK.
In the Pret branch on K Street and 17th Street, a stone’s throw from the White House, its egg sandwich had a sales tax of $10.45 (close to £8) and the same sandwich in a central store was just £ in London near Buckingham Palace. 3.50 (just over $4.50).
The same is true for a range of its other comparable meals.
The tuna and cucumber markup is even higher. In DC, it costs $11.55 (£8.70) with sales tax compared to £3.50 in the UK store.
The half sandwich that costs $7
Half a tuna sandwich – what the Washington shop calls ‘skinny’ – costs a whopping $7 for a meal that can be eaten in three mouthfuls.
In the United Kingdom there have been many complaints about the very high cost of Pret lunches.
In the United States, meals out have skyrocketed – New York is now notorious – there is a general shrug. Exorbitant prices seem to be the norm.
Inflation in the US is now down to 2.5 percent – a significant drop from the peak of 9 percent in June 2022.
Although the United Kingdom’s inflation rate is now slightly lower, at 2.2 percent, Americans have not experienced seven months of double-digit British inflation, which ends in October 2022.
The Federal Reserve’s decision last week to cut interest rates by half a percentage point suggests the bank believes the period of high inflation that began in the US following the Covid-19 pandemic is now over.
Although prices in the United States are now rising at a slower rate, consumers are still feeling the effects of the high inflation during Joe Biden’s presidency.
Ms. Harris and Trump have promised inflation-defying policies that are derided by economists and popular with voters.
The economy is the biggest concern for voters
Michael Strain, director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, said: “Voters are most concerned about the economy.
Prices are on average 20 to 25 percent higher now than when Joe Biden took office.
In addition, the prices of many goods that are really important to people, such as the price of food, are up even more in many cases.
“That tells you what you need to know about why people are suffering in the economy. People are not feeling well and this is not too complicated. People are feeling the pressure here.”
Mr Strain added: “I was just in London and I bought a Pret sandwich and I was shocked at the price: it was nothing. It used to be £3, but here it’s £8 or £9.”
For Ms. Harris, her solution is an “opportunity economy,” including a federal ban on “price gouging” by grocery stores that Trump has described as “communist.”
His own campaign promised to end federal taxes on hospitality workers’ tips and overtime pay, and to cap annual interest rates on credit cards at 10 percent.
In Ms Harris’s local Pret store last week, customers were a bit shocked by the prices.
‘It’s very expensive, but what can you do?’
Traffic in the store was sparse. One shopper, who did not want to be named, said: “It’s very expensive but what can you do? If you are hungry, you have to eat.
“But everything is very expensive, not just Pret. I don’t know what Kamala’s plans are for the economy but I hope whoever wins does something.”
Staff at the store said some people complained but most were happy to pay for a freshly made sandwich.
Jenifer Vega, 23, who serves behind the counter, said: “It’s health food. Sometimes people are like, ‘oh there’s too much’, but most people are happy to buy here.”
Her co-worker Angel Antonio, 20, said: “There’s nothing special about paying $11 for a sandwich. That’s what costs things.”
In an official statement, Pret said: “The UK and US markets have very different operating costs and supply chains.”
America is richer than the UK and GDP per capita shows more spending power on the US side of the Atlantic.
The latest figures show that the US has a GDP per capita of just over $80,000, 60 per cent higher than the UK compared to $50,000.
But there is no doubt that the pressure is being felt in the United States post-Covid, just as it was in the United Kingdom on the cost of living crisis, together with turbulent times in Downing Street, the Conservatives are under pressure in this summer’s election in the UK.
Bill Clinton’s political adviser, Jim Carville, declared in 1992: “It’s the economy, stupid” and given all the serious concerns about Trump’s erratic behavior and criminality, the United States may be turning himself and against Ms. Harris for economic renewal.
The $10 price tag on the mayo egg sandwich may be what seats the Democratic ticket.
