Panera Bread Mission Statement

The Panera Bread legacy started in 1981 as AuBon Pain Co., Inc. In May of 1999, all of the AuBon Pain Co., Inc.’s business units were sold, except for Panera Bread, thus the company was renamed Panera Bread (Panera). As of December 2015, there are 1,972 bakery-cafes in 46 states, the District of Columbia, and in Ontario Canada (Panera, n.d.). Today, Panera Bread has a market capitalization of $4.5 billion and continues to be on a journey to serve food, as it should be. They continue to strive on serving quality foods that are free of artificial ingredients and making sure customers have a great experience.

As mentioned in the case study, Panera Bread Company is known to be one of the leading bakery/café that offers freshly baked pastries and French inspired entrées across various states in the US. However in the recent years, Panera Bread faced a decrease in their usual high growth rate from 9.1% and 12.0% in the year 2000 to merely 0.2% and 0.5% of comparable sales and annualized unit volumes respectively.

Panera targets consumers who seek meals of higher quality than they would find at the traditional fast food chain, but don’t have the time to dine in or have a sit-down meal at a restaurant. Though there are many other restaurants who offer this same combination, they tend to be local and do not benefit from a national brand name with a large advertising budget.

“Increasingly, companies are locating different value chain activities in different parts of the world to exploit location-based advantages that vary from country to country” (Gamble, Peteraf, Strickland, Thompson, 2014). Panera Bread extraordinary specialty showcase gives them the apparatuses they have to adequately manage the challenges standing up to the fast food industry and also additionally going up against the eat in industry. Panera Bread's less expensive items makes it more appealing contrasting option to conventional restaurants. Panera fabricated its organization on negligible long haul obligation. The greater part of their extension is financed with income from their operations. Besides quality control is kept up by making new batter every day at one of a few crisp mixture offices as well as the mixture is then transported day by day from the office to stores and heated new in the store. The normal length of each outing is 300 miles. The company also has solid brand

At the end of 2007, Panera Bread Company was in an unfamiliar position where taking out debt was a necessary action to gain funding. Raising prices would be an option to help with the deteriorating margins, but there is fear that this move will slow the growth of the company. Other options, such as lowering the quality of food, would go against Panera’s fundamental goal of serving high quality food. At this time, Panera is in a position where it needs to repurchase stock. The $75 million buy-back should help give confidence to their shareholders. However, to accomplish their growth goals and stock repurchase, Panera will require external funding for the first time.

Expanding the target market of Panera Bread is a good growth opportunity for them. This can be achieved by product line (menu options) extension or by entering international market outside the American continent so as to increase their geographical coverage. In addition, Panera has an opportunity to get additional market and growth by adapting rapidly to changing market and customer preferences. They need to advertise and market themselves as a healthy option for eating out. Health oriented food or food that are low in calories, sugar, cholesterol, etc. is getting very important as people started becoming very health conscious and selective. Their effort to roll out new products with fresher ingredients such as antibiotic-free chicken needs to be further expanded. Recognizing the health risks associated with transfat, Panera had completely removed all transfat from its menu by 2006. Organic food, non GMO, etc. They could increase number of their franchises. A number of markets were still available for franchise development. The have opportunity in front of them to open more outlets, both company-owned and franchises. They could open within North America and mainly in areas where they are not present now, and those areas where the growth potential is good, like some of the suburban markets. Many good locations for fast casual dining options are available in many of the untapped areas. Panera has a good market opportunity outside the small urban niche where greater growth

Panera Bread has established itself as one of the most popular, fast growing “bakery-café” restaurants in the United States as well as in Canada. With 1,800 locations in 45 states, the franchise appears to be unstoppable. This in part is due to the superior customer service experience that keeps customers coming back time and time again. Just to give you an example, in 2012; the most recent year that data is available, Panera Bread brought in an astounding $2.13 billion in revenue, about $1 billion more than its revenue in 2008.

“A loaf of bread in every arm” is the mission statement of Panera Bread Company (Vincelette & Fogarty, 2010, p.1). Panera started as a small bakery under the name Au Bon Pain and grew to one of the largest fast food service companies in the U.S. In 2008 they had the 5th overall rating in the restaurant industry. “Panera Bread is widely recognized for driving the nationwide trend for specialty breads” (Panera Bread, 2011).

The Panera Bread Company is starting 2007 with unfinished goals and missed targets previously set and a review of their strategy is in order to continue their ongoing success. The company has grown substantially since its inception in the competitive restaurant industry; however, an aggressive target of 2,000 Panera Bread bakery-cafes will require a focused strategic plan. The company has a strong base with loyal customers who appreciate Panera’s unique dining atmosphere with a focus on quality products at a reasonable price. Panera will need to continue its market research and focus on environmental issues, which are an important core value. The opportunity for

Panera’s strategy was called Concept Essence. In simple terms they wanted to be, “better than the guys across the street.” This included offering an appealing selection of breads, bagels and other handcrafted pastry products that were baked fresh daily at each location. They only serve high-quality foods at what they believe was a good value. They developed a menu that was offered diverse selections in an effort to draw customers from breakfast through dinner. Provide above quality customer service and to make sure their patrons enjoy a satisfying dining experience. Panera also sought to ensure that all of their locations were aesthetically soothing and inviting to potential patrons.

Panera is also consistently referred to as “the leader in the fast-casual industry.” This leads us to believe that there are not a plethora of competitors with equal size and competitive strength at the moment. Panera also has one of the most loyal consumer bases in the industry. TNS Intersearch conducted a study in 2011 that scored Panera the highest level of customer loyalty among quick-casual restaurants. They are less likely to switch to rival competitors.

Being a nationally recognized brand and a dominant in restaurant operations in the specialty bakery café segment and to expand broadly in the regional market is Panera’s strategy. And by giving high quality product Panera is following their strategy.

Among the crowded field of casual, quick-service restaurants in America, the distinctive blend of genuine artisan bread and a warm, comfortable atmosphere has given Panera Bread Company a golden opportunity to capture market share and reward shareholders through well-planned growth. With the objective of opening approximately 1,000 more bakery-cafes in the next three years, Panera Bread Company must make prudent strategy decisions about new store locations, supply-chain management and expanded offerings, all the while continuing its above-average earnings per share growth of at least 25 percent per year.

Panera Bread is considered to be one of the U.S. most successful fast-casual restaurants. The company is one of the revolution makers in the industry of fast food, which managed to transform the traditional image and perception of to-go products that are available at an acceptable price on the market. As its initial founding company was established in 1981, Panera Bread managed to gain up to 4.5 billion USD in sales by the year of 2015, whereas the average sales per one store made up to 2.5 million USD annually (Thompson). Nevertheless, the company that once managed to upgrade bread and pastry into a trend of fast and healthy eating, today is struggling with massive competition on the fast food market. Its previous strategic strengths now became a burden that stops innovation and creativity and does not

Panera Bread’s intention is “to make Panera Bread a nationally recognized brand name and to be the dominant restaurant operator in the specialty bakery-café segment.” Panera experienced competition from many numerous sources in its trade areas. Their competition was with specialty food, casual dining and quick service cafes, bakeries, and restaurant retailers, including national, regional, and locally owned. The competitive factors included location, environment, customer service, price, and quality of products. Panera learned from its competitors, none of its competitors had yet