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Panera Bread Company
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryFast food
Founded1987; 37 years ago (1987)
Kirkwood, Missouri, US
FounderKen Rosenthal
Ronald M. Shaich
Louis Kane
Headquarters
Sunset Hills, Missouri
,
U.S.
Number of locations
2100 stores (November 2017)
Area served
United States, Canada
Key people
Ronald M. Shaich (Founder, Chairman),
Blaine E. Hurst,
President, CEO[1]
ProductsFast casual/Bakery-café, including several varieties of bread, such as bagel and baguettes, cold sandwiches, hot panini, salads, soups, coffee and teas
RevenueUS$ 2.6 billion (2015)[2]
US$ 149 million (2015)[2]
Total assetsUS$ 1.4 billion (2015)[2]
Number of employees
47,191 including 23,821 who work at least 25 hours per week (December 2015)
ParentJAB Holding Company
SubsidiariesParadise Bakery & Café
Websitepanerabread.com

Panera Bread Company is an American chain of bakery-café fast casual restaurants in the United States and Canada. Its headquarters are in Sunset Hills, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis, and operates as Saint Louis Bread Company in the St. Louis metropolitan area.[3][4] Offerings include soups, salads, pasta, sandwiches, specialty drinks, and bakery items. Any links or images of "Panera" in the St. Louis area will automatically be changed to St. Louis Bread Co. or made to be error messages.

History

Formation

Panera Bread in Chicago's South Loop in 2006.

St. Louis Bread was founded by Ken Rosenthal in 1987 when he opened the first location in Kirkwood, Missouri. In 1993, Au Bon Pain Co. purchased the St. Louis Bread Company. In 1997, Au Bon Pain changed the company name to Panera, a word that has roots meaning "bread basket" in Latin.[5] At the same time, the St. Louis Bread Company was renovating its 20 bakery-cafés in the St. Louis area.[6][5] In May 1999, to expand Panera Bread into a national restaurant, Au Bon Pain Co. sold its other chains, including Au Bon Pain, which is now owned by Compass Group North America.[7] Panera Bread moved into its new headquarters in Richmond Heights, Missouri in 2000.[8] The company operates or franchises more than 1900 Panera Bread bakery-cafés in 46 states[6] and 20 facilities that deliver fresh dough to the bakery-cafés every day. Panera Bread's CEO is Ron Shaich.[9]

In the St. Louis area where it was founded, Panera Bread still operates under the name St. Louis Bread Company. The St. Louis metropolitan area has over 101 locations.

Growth nationally

Headquarters in Sunset Hills, Missouri

In 2005, Panera ranked 37th on BusinessWeek's list of "Hot Growth Companies", earning $38.6 million with a 42.9% increase in profits.[10][11] In 2007, Panera Bread purchased a majority stake in Paradise Bakery & Café, a Phoenix-based concept with over 70 locations in 10 states (predominantly in the west and southwest). The company purchased the balance of Paradise in June 2009.[6] On January 25, 2008, a class action lawsuit was filed against Panera Bread alleging Panera failed to disclose material adverse facts about the company's financial well-being, business relationships, and prospects.[12] Panera settled the lawsuit and agreed to pay $5.75 million to shareholders while admitting no wrongdoing.[13][14] In 2008 Panera Bread expanded into Canada, beginning with Richmond Hill, Thornhill, Oakville, and Mississauga in the Toronto area.[15][16] In 2009 and 2012, the restaurant review service Zagat named Panera one of the most popular restaurants for eating on the go.[17] Panera was also rated No. 1 for Best Healthy Option,[18] Best Salad,[17] and Best Facilities, among restaurants with fewer than 5,000 locations.[18]

Recent events

In November 2010, Panera Bread relocated its headquarters to Sunset Hills while vacating its Richmond Heights headquarters and Brentwood offices.[19] In 2011, revenue was US$2.7 billion,[20] operating income was US$259 million,[20] net income was US$160 million,[20] assets were US$1.5 billion,[21] and equity was US$497.3 million.[21] In mid-2014, Panera unveiled "Panera 2.0," a series of integrated technologies to enhance the guest experience.[22] In 2015, annual revenues were $2,681,580,000 up from $2,529,195,000 the year prior. Net income came to $149,325,000 down from $179,293,000 the year prior. Total assets equaled $1,475,318,000.[2]

In January 2017, many Paradise Bakery & Café locations were rebranded as Panera Bread.[citation needed] In 2017, Panera finished a "decadelong overhaul" of its menu and completed reformulating its food to be free of artificial ingredients.[23] In April 2017, Panera announced that it was being acquired by Luxembourg-based JAB Holding Company for $315 per share, or over $7 billion.[24] The companies expected the deal to close in the third quarter of 2017.[25] In July 2017, JAB Holding Co. acquired Panera for $7.16 billion.[23] On November 8, 2017, Panera announced that founder Ron Shaich was stepping down as CEO, with company president Blaine Hurst to take over. Shaich remained chairman.[23] The company also announced it would be acquiring Au Bon Pain, a cafe division which had split off from Panera in 1999 after being created in 1981.[23]

Restaurants and services

A drive-through location

In 2015, there were 1,972 Panera outlets and stores, up from 1,880 the year before. 901 of those stores were company owned, while 1,071 were franchised.[2] Panera opened its 2000th location in Elyria, Ohio on March 23, 2016.[26]

In 2006 and 2007, Panera was the largest provider of free Wi-Fi in the United States.[27][28] Many locations restrict the duration of free Wi-Fi to 30 or 60 minutes during peak hours.[29]

In mid-2014, Panera unveiled "Panera 2.0," a series of integrated technologies to enhance the guest experience for all consumers no matter how they choose to use Panera. Panera 2.0 brings together new capabilities for digital ordering, payment, operations and, ultimately, consumption to create an enhanced guest experience for "to go" and "eat in" customers. A notable feature of Panera 2.0 involves interactive tablet kiosks, which the company calls Fast Lane, where customers may place an order and pay without approaching the counter.[22][30] The kiosks consist of iPads.[31] In addition to the kiosks, customers could also place orders and pay via an app on their own smartphone or tablet.[32]

Nutrition

In a 2008 Health magazine study, Panera Bread was judged North America's healthiest fast casual restaurant.[33]

In June 2014, Panera unveiled its official Food Policy which detailed commitments to clean ingredients, transparency and a positive impact on the food system.[34] This policy outlines the company's values and sets a course for continuous improvement. Panera also made a commitment to remove artificial additives (colors, flavors, sweeteners, and preservatives) on its 'No No List' from the food in its US bakery-cafes by the end of 2016.[35] In January 2017, it announced its US food menu was free of artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, and preservatives.[36]

Panera stylizes themselves as a peaceful "Bakery-Cafe" and offers a wide array of pastries and baked goods, such as croissants, bagels, cookies, scones, muffins and brownies. These, along with Panera's artisan breads, are typically baked before dawn by an on-staff baker. Some locations also participate in a program that donates their unsold baked goods to local charities after closing hours.[37] Aside from the bakery section, Panera has a regular menu for dine-in or takeout that is broken down into the following categories:[38]

  • Sandwiches
  • Panini
  • Pastas
  • Soups & more
  • Flatbreads
  • Salads
  • Side choices
  • Panera Kids
  • Fruit smoothies
  • Frozen drinks
  • Iced drinks
  • Coffee, tea, and lemonade
  • Espresso drinks
  • Lattes/ Hot Chocolate

Panera also has a selection of seasonal offerings, such as the Strawberry Poppy Seed Chicken salad offered during the summer season and the Roasted Turkey Cranberry Flatbread in the winter.[citation needed]

Panera announced the addition of more plant-based proteins, such as edamame and organic quinoa, to its menu on November 5, 2015. Being one of the first fast-casual restaurants to discuss plant-based proteins caused Fortune reporter Beth Kowitt to speculate that "other restaurants will likely follow the soup-and-sandwich chain's lead."[39]

Peanut butter lawsuits

In 2016, a lawsuit was filed after an employee at a Natick, Massachusetts store knowingly put peanut butter on a sandwich, despite being informed that the person receiving the sandwich was allergic to peanuts. It was alleged that the restaurant chain acted negligently, and charged those involved with intentional or reckless infliction of emotional distress as well as assault and battery,[40] which resulted in the recipient of the sandwich being hospitalized briefly.[41] Less than one month after the incident involved in this case, another restaurant reportedly had a nearly identical incident with another person who had a severe allergy to peanuts.[40]

Social responsibility

In 2009, the company's nonprofit foundation created Panera Cares, a "Pay what you can" restaurant in its home market of St. Louis. CEO Ron Shaich based the idea on an NBC profile of the SAME Cafe in Denver, Colorado.[42][43] It has since expanded the concept to Dearborn, Michigan; Portland, Oregon; Chicago; and Boston.[44][45][46] Each site serves approximately 3,500 people every week.[47][48][49] The Panera Cares in Chicago shut down at the end of January 2015.[50] The Panera Cares in Portland, Oregon shut down at the end of June 2016, leaving just three locations.[51]

On November 5, 2015, Panera announced that it will use cage-free eggs in all of its stores by 2020.[52] At the time of the announcement, the company said it was 21% cage-free in the roughly 70 million eggs it used in 2015.[53] In December 2016, it published its third animal welfare progress report, announcing new efforts to improve broiler chicken welfare.[54]

Community outreach

The Day-End Dough-Nation program provides unsold bread and baked goods to local area hunger relief agencies and charities. In 2014, Panera Bread bakery-cafes donated a retail value around $100 million worth of unsold bread and baked goods to local organizations in need. Panera also supports events held by nonprofit organizations serving those in need by donating a certificate or fresh bakery products.

Employment lawsuits

In 2003, a lawsuit was filed by a former employee who claimed he was fired after allegedly refusing to carry out discriminatory policies set forth by his superiors.[55] In 2009 and 2011, class action lawsuits were filed by former workers alleging that the company violated the California Labor Code, failed to pay overtime, failed to provide meal and rest periods, failed to pay employees upon termination, and violated California's Unfair Competition Law. Panera set aside $5 million for the payment of claims and denied any wrongdoing.[56]

In 2011, a former employee filed a racial discrimination lawsuit alleging that he was eventually fired after repeatedly having a black man work the cash register instead of putting him in a less visible location and having "pretty young girls" be the cashiers, as requested by supervisors.[57] The plaintiff also said he was fired after requesting another month off after returning from three months of medical leave.[57] Panera said it "does not discriminate based on national origin, race or sex," and that the plaintiff "was terminated because he had used all of his medical leave and was unable to return to work."[57] The plaintiff worked in a store owned by franchisee Sam Covelli,[58] who also owns the stores that were involved in the 2003 racial discrimination lawsuit.[59][60] Covelli Enterprises is the single largest franchisee of Panera Bread with nearly 200 stores in northeast Ohio, western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Florida.[61]

Key people

See also

References

  1. ^ "Management Bios". Panera Bread. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e Panera Annual Report - 2015 (PDF), 2015, p. 18, retrieved April 7, 2017
  3. ^ Corrigan, Don (September 17, 2010). "Panera Headquarters To Draw 375 Workers To Area". South County Times. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011 – via St. Louis County Economic Council. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ "Panera tests $16.99 lobster sandwich". Dayton Business Journal. August 18, 2009. Retrieved August 19, 2009.
  5. ^ a b Kowitt, Beth (July 18, 2012). "A founder's bold gamble on Panera". CNN. Archived from the original on July 30, 2012. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ a b c "Our History". Panera Bread. Archived from the original on February 20, 2012. Retrieved January 21, 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ "Au Bon Pain: bakery-cafe weighs in on diet fads, offers more healthful fare to concerned customers". Nation's Restaurant News. January 31, 2005. Archived from the original on April 25, 2005 – via FindArticles. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ Brown, Lisa (January 24, 2010). "Panera Bread finalizing headquarters search". St. Louis Business Journal. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
  9. ^ "Panera Bread Announces Bill Moreton, Ron Shaich to Become Co-CEOs" (Press release). Yahoo! Finance. March 15, 2012. Archived from the original on January 18, 2017. {{cite press release}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ "St. Louis Firms Make BusinessWeek's Hot Growth List". St. Louis Commerce Magazine. September 1, 2005. Archived from the original on January 15, 2013 – via FindArticles. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ "Giving Quick Food A Run For Its Money". Bloomberg BusinessWeek. April 17, 2006. Archived from the original on May 13, 2006. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ "Panera faces class-action lawsuit". St. Louis Business Journal. American City Business Journals. February 27, 2008. Retrieved May 4, 2009.
  13. ^ Brown, Lisa (February 22, 2011). "Panera to pay $5.75 million to settle lawsuit". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
  14. ^ Fenske, Sarah (February 24, 2011). "Panera Bread Settles Class Action Suit Alleging Stock Fraud". River Front Times. Retrieved April 5, 2017.
  15. ^ Walkup, Carylyn (June 19, 2006). "Panera Bread to launch dinner menu, push toward 1,000 units". Nation's Restaurant News. Archived from the original on May 11, 2007. Retrieved March 3, 2008 – via FindArticles. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ Brown, Lisa R (October 26, 2007). "Panera Bread headquarters in play". St. Louis Business Journal. Retrieved March 3, 2008.
  17. ^ a b "The 2009 Zagat Survey". Zagat Survey. 2009. Archived from the original on July 7, 2009. Retrieved July 7, 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ a b "2009 Awards & Recognition". Panera Bread. Archived from the original on July 14, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-07. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ Volkmann, Kelsey (November 19, 2010). "Panera opens new headquarters in Sunset Hills". St. Louis Business Journal. Retrieved July 30, 2014. Panera Bread Co. plans to celebrate the opening of its new headquarters Friday in Sunset Hills and the relocation of 365 corporate employees there.
  20. ^ a b c Panera Bread Company (PNRA) annual SEC income statement filing via Wikinvest
  21. ^ a b Panera Bread Company (PNRA) annual SEC balance sheet filing via Wikinvest
  22. ^ a b Horovitz, Bruce (April 2016). "Kiosks Keep Their Cool: Even in a smartphone era, touch-screen kiosks give brands a fun, efficient ordering innovation". QSR Magazine.
  23. ^ a b c d Jargon, Julie (November 8, 2017). "Panera Bread Founder Ron Shaich to Step Down as CEO". The Wall Street Journal. New York City, New York, United States. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
  24. ^ "JAB snaps up Panera Bread for more than $7 billion". Boston.com. April 5, 2017.
  25. ^ Whipp, Lindsay (April 7, 2017). "Panera founder Ron Shaich takes long-term view with JAB deal". Financial Times.
  26. ^ Bamforth, Emily (March 22, 2016). "Panera Bread's 2,000th store opening in Elyria (photo)". Cleveland Plain Dealer.
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  28. ^ Nowlin, Terrence (November 1, 2006). "Plugging into wireless: wireless Internet is making its way into more parks nationwide". Parks & Recreation. National Recreation and Park Association. Retrieved November 26, 2007.[dead link‍]
  29. ^ Anderson, Nate (July 10, 2006). "Free WiFi spawns café backlash". Ars Technica. Retrieved January 28, 2009.
  30. ^ "Investor Relations 2.0 Video". Panera Bread. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  31. ^ Troxell, Nicole (February 6, 2015). "Is Panera 2.0 starting to pay off?". Fast Casual.
  32. ^ Wong, Venessa (May 2, 2014). "More Kiosks, Fewer Cashiers Coming Soon to Panera". Bloomberg News.
  33. ^ Minkin, Tracy; Reaud, Brittani (February 12, 2009). "America's Healthiest". Health Magazine. Retrieved May 26, 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |last-author-amp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
  34. ^ "Panera Bread's Food Policy Statement" (PDF). Panera Bread. June 3, 2014. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  35. ^ "The No No List" (PDF). Panera Bread. March 11, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
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  37. ^ "Baked Before Sunrise, Donated After Sunset". Live58. Archived from the original on January 8, 2016. Retrieved 2015-09-06. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  38. ^ "Panera Bread". Panera Bread. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  39. ^ Kowitt, Beth (November 5, 2015). "Panera Wants You to Eat More Plants". Fortune Magazine. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
  40. ^ a b Swidey, Neil (June 6, 2016). "Family of allergic child sues Panera for putting peanut butter in grilled cheese sandwich". The Boston Globe. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
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  43. ^ "Panera: Pay what you can afford". St. Louis Business Journal. May 18, 2010. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  44. ^ "Panera Bread Foundation Celebrates One Year Anniversary of Panera Cares Launch". MSNBC. May 16, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2011.[dead link‍]
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  46. ^ Abelson, Jenn (December 24, 2012). "Panera Cares café in Boston let you pay full price, more than that, or less if you can't afford the food". The Boston Globe. Retrieved January 12, 2013.
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  48. ^ Muir, David (November 25, 2011). "Panera Cares, Other Eateries Tackle Hunger With 'Pay-What-You-Can' Plan". ABC News.
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  51. ^ "PaneraCares café locations".
  52. ^ Ross, Ashley (November 5, 2015). "Panera to Use All Cage-Free Eggs by 2020". Time magazine. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
  53. ^ Scipioni, Jade (November 5, 2015). "Panera Bread Goes Plant Based". Fox Business Network. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
  54. ^ Company, Panera Bread. "Panera Bread® Broadens Leadership on Animal Welfare Issues". GlobeNewswire News Room. Retrieved November 25, 2017. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  55. ^ Check, Jonathan (December 3, 2003). "Panera faces lawsuit by former employee". The Pitt News. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
  56. ^ Holter, Mike (November 30, 2011). "Panera Bread Sets Aside $5M for Employee Class Action Lawsuit Settlement". Legafi. Archived from the original on April 26, 2012. Retrieved December 12, 2011. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  57. ^ a b c Mirando, Kimberly (November 21, 2011). "Panera Bread Racial Discrimination Lawsuit". Legafi. Archived from the original on May 2, 2012. Retrieved December 12, 2011. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  58. ^ "Fired Panera Bread Manager: They Wanted 'Pretty Young Girls'". WTAE-TV. November 3, 2011. Archived from the original on September 19, 2012. Retrieved December 12, 2011. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  59. ^ "Our locations". Covelli Enterprises. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
  60. ^ Walsh, Anna (December 5, 2011). "Panera Bread's racist, sexist practices warrant boycott". The Tartan. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
  61. ^ "About Us". Covelli Enterprises. Retrieved September 23, 2013.
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  64. ^ Whitten, Sarah (November 8, 2017). "Panera's Ron Shaich is stepping down as CEO, but first he's repurchasing Au Bon Pain". CNBC. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
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