The price change comes into effect today for new customers, though they pay half price (£15) in the first month. Payment will then be set up to be taken automatically every month until the subscription is cancelled or paused.

As part of the offer, customers can get up to five barista-made hot drinks a day, including coffee, tea, hot chocolate and iced drinks.

For existing sign-ups, they will continue to pay £25 for the first 40 days before the price rises to £30, at their next billing cycle on or after 5 June.

The price change comes as the coffee chain launches Club Pret which offers subscribers a 10% discount on all food, snacks and drinks bought in the store. Existing customers will automatically become part of Club Pret.

Its monthly coffee subscription first launched in September 2020 and is currently used 1.25 million times per week, up 11% year-on-year.

Pret last pushed up the price of its monthly coffee subscription in February 2022, taking the cost from £20 to £25, in a sign that rising costs and inflationary pressures are impacting the chain.

To see if it is worth signing up to the subscription, check the Club Pret calculator. Very generally, if you buy three coffees a week, a subscription could work out better value in the long run.

‘Food inflation is unrelenting’

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said food inflation is “unrelenting” right now for Brits and Pret’s price hike illustrates this trend.

“Increases passed on from suppliers are being blamed for the shift upwards, with higher food prices meaning the company can’t offset the costs of providing hot drinks on tap so easily. But higher labour costs are also weighing on the company,” Streeter said.

She added: “At a time when other subscriptions are rising in price, from TV streaming to delivery fees, the company may still see a raft of cancellations from consumers who may feel that paying £360 year for hot drinks is a luxury they can no longer afford.”

Pano Christou, chief executive officer of Pret A Manger, said: “Over the past year, we’ve thought long and hard about the best way to support the people who matter most to Pret – our team members who do such an outstanding job, day in and day out, as well as our customers.

“That’s why we’ve increased pay three times in the last 12 months, and reinvested in benefits to support our people through the cost-of-living crisis.

“It’s now time that we give back to our most loyal customers, expanding the subscription and making our freshly made food, snacks and organic coffee, more accessible to the people who have been crucial to Pret’s success. That’s what Club Pret is all about.”