Panera Bread facts for kids
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Panera Bread in The Villages, Florida
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| Private | |
| Industry | |
| Genre | Fast Food |
| Founded | St. Louis Bread Co.: 1987 Kirkwood, Missouri, U.S. Panera Bread: 1998 St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. |
| Founder | St. Louis Bread Company: Ken Rosenthal and Linda Rosenthal Panera Bread: Louis Kane and Ronald M. Shaich |
| Headquarters | Fenton, Missouri |
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Number of locations
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Area served
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United States Canada |
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Key people
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Ronald M. Shaich – founder and chairman Ken Rosenthal – founder of The St. Louis Bread Company Jose Duenas – CEO (2023–present) Charles J. Chapman, III – executive VP and COO Sue Morelli – president of Au Bon Pain |
| Products | Bakery-café serving several varieties of bread – |
| Revenue |  US$5.795 billion (2022) |
 US$145 million (2016) |
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| Total assets | US$1.301 billion (2016) |
| Total equity | US$288 million (2016) |
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Number of employees
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About 140,000 |
| Parent | JAB Holding Company |
| Subsidiaries | Paradise Bakery & Café |
Panera Bread is a popular American restaurant chain. It has over 2,000 locations across the United States and Canada. These restaurants are known as bakery-cafés, serving fresh food and baked goods.
The company's main office is in Sunset Hills, Missouri. In the Greater St. Louis area, the chain is still called Saint Louis Bread Company. It has more than 100 locations there.
Panera offers many tasty items like bagels, cookies, and muffins. They also bake artisan breads daily. Besides baked goods, Panera serves flatbreads, pizzas, salads, sandwiches, and soups. You can also find a variety of drinks like coffee, smoothies, and tea.
For a while, Panera Bread also owned another bakery chain called Au Bon Pain. Today, Panera Bread is owned by a company called JAB Holding Company. Panera was once famous for offering free Wi-Fi hotspots in its restaurants.
Contents
History of Panera Bread
Starting as St. Louis Bread Company
The story of Panera Bread began in 1987. Ken and Linda Rosenthal started the St. Louis Bread Company. Their first location was in Kirkwood, Missouri. They invested their own money and received a loan to get started.
In 1993, a company called Au Bon Pain Co. bought the St. Louis Bread Company. They paid $23 million for it.
Becoming Panera Bread
In 1997, Au Bon Pain Co. changed the name of the St. Louis Bread Company to Panera. The word "Panera" comes from a Latin word meaning "breadbasket". It's also the word for "breadbasket" in Spanish and Catalan.
Even with the new name, locations in Missouri kept the original St. Louis Bread Company name. Around this time, the 20 bakery-cafés in the St. Louis area were updated.
In 1999, Au Bon Pain Co. sold its Au Bon Pain restaurants. This allowed the company to focus entirely on growing the Panera Bread chain.
Growth and New Ideas
Panera Bread moved its main office to Richmond Heights, Missouri in 2000. In 2007, Panera Bread bought a large part of Paradise Bakery & Café. This company had over 70 locations, mostly in the western U.S. Panera bought the rest of Paradise Bakery in 2009.
Expanding to Canada
In October 2008, Panera Bread opened its first locations in Canada. These were in cities like Richmond Hill and Mississauga.
In 2010, Panera Bread moved its headquarters again. This time, it moved to Sunset Hills, Missouri.
New Ways to Order
In May 2014, Panera introduced "Panera 2.0." This was a new system for ordering and paying. It included tablet kiosks called Fast Lane, where customers could order without waiting in line. Customers could also order and pay using a special app on their phones. By 2017, digital orders made up a big part of Panera's sales.
The company started offering delivery services in May 2018. They hired their own drivers, which created many new jobs.
More Changes and Technology
In September 2015, all Paradise Bakery & Café locations were renamed Panera Bread. Panera also bought a majority share in Tatte Bakery & Cafe, a bakery-cafe chain in the Boston area.
On March 23, 2016, Panera opened its 2,000th restaurant in Elyria, Ohio.
In January 2017, Panera announced that its food menu was free of artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, and preservatives. This was a big step for the company.
Later in 2017, JAB Holding Company bought Panera for $7.5 billion. Panera also announced that its founder, Ron Shaich, would step down as CEO. He remained the chairman. Panera also bought back Au Bon Pain.
In 2018, Panera sold Tatte Bakery & Café. The company also started a business to help other restaurants remove artificial ingredients from their menus.
In April 2018, there was a report about a data issue on Panera's website. The company said the problem was fixed quickly.
Panera in the 2020s
In October 2020, Panera added pizza to its menu. This gave customers more options for dinner.
On August 25, 2021, Panera announced it had joined with Caribou Coffee and Einstein Bros. Bagels. Together, they formed a new company called Panera Brands.
In August 2022, Panera started testing artificial intelligence (AI) in its drive-thru lanes. This AI technology helps take customer orders. Many other fast-food chains are also using AI.
In September 2022, Panera announced that some St. Louis Bread Co. locations would be renamed Panera. This would happen when they were remodeled. However, locations in the heart of the St. Louis area would keep the Bread Co. name.
In December 2023, Panera Bread shared plans to become a publicly traded company again.
Social Responsibility
Panera Cares: Helping the Community
In 2010, Panera started a special program called Panera Cares. These were "Pay what you can" restaurants. Customers could pay what they felt they could afford, or even pay extra to help others. The idea came from a similar cafe in Denver, Colorado.
Panera Cares locations opened in several cities, including Dearborn, Michigan and Boston. These restaurants served thousands of customers each week. The last Panera Cares location closed in Boston in February 2019.
Cage-Free Eggs and Healthy Food
On November 5, 2015, Panera promised to use only cage-free eggs in all its stores by 2020. They also added more plant-based proteins, like edamame and organic quinoa, to their menu. By 2021, Panera had switched 65% of its egg supply to cage-free.
Panera Bread also has a "cool food pledge" to help fight global warming. They encourage customers to choose foods that have a lower impact on the environment. They use a "traffic light" system to show which foods are healthier and more eco-friendly. Green means healthy, and yellow means eat in moderation.
In 2015, Panera Bread also announced it would not use genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in its food. This made it one of the first large food chains to take this step.
Giving Back to the Community
Panera has a program called Day-End Dough-Nation. Through this program, unsold bread and baked goods are given to local charities and organizations. Panera Bread bakery-cafes donate about $100 million worth of baked goods every year. They also support events for nonprofit groups by donating food or gift certificates.
Awards and Recognition
Panera Bread has received many awards over the years.
- In 2005, Bloomberg BusinessWeek listed Panera as a "Hot Growth Company."
- In 2008, Health magazine named Panera Bread North America's healthiest fast casual restaurant.
- Zagat, a well-known restaurant guide, named Panera one of the most popular restaurants for eating on the go in 2009 and 2012.
- In 2009, Panera was also rated No. 1 for Best Healthy Option, Best Salad, and Best Facilities among restaurants of its size.
See also
In Spanish: Panera Bread para niños
- List of bakeries
- List of fast food restaurant chains
- List of restaurant chains in the United States
Images for kids
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Headquarters in Sunset Hills, Missouri
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Panera Bread in the Chicago Loop in 2006
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An employee places a bagel in a slicer at a Panera Bread in Cleveland, Tennessee.
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Panera delivery vehicle
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Panera Bread in Canada
