Panera Bread isn’t bound by the “fast food” stereotype. Panera Bread’s founder, a former cook, wants his food to be as good and as fresh as possible. Panera’s mission has been to serve fresh, clean food and create a healthy environment. Panera Bread is a well-respected restaurant with more than 1900 locations across the U.S.
Ron Saich founded Panera in 1987 in Kirkwood, Missouri. Au Bon Pain, an American chain of cafes and fast bakeries based in Boston (Massachusetts), purchased the St. Louis Bread company in 1993. The restaurant was then renamed Panera to mean “bread basket” Latinally. Panera Bread was the only Au Bon Pain restaurant that was sold in 1999. Warshaw 2 became the company’s new name. As the number of Panera restaurants increased, so did Panera’s popularity. Panera Bread was named in 2006 as the top restaurant for year-end returns, both one-year, five years and ten years. Ron Saich was promoted to Chief Executive Officer (CEO), in 2010 and Bill Moreton was appointed CEO. This is to acknowledge their close partnership and dedication to Panera. As of September 2016, there were at most 2,024 bakery cafГ©s in the U.S. and Canada. The warm atmosphere is welcoming to all ages and races. Panera is known for its warm and inviting interior. Panera has been promoting fresh, clean food for many years. Panera declared in 2014 that artificial sweeteners, artificial flavors and artificial colors would be removed from all Panera’s restaurants and on all shelves at their grocery stores by the year 2016. While keeping prices low, they promised that all artificial flavors and sweeteners would be removed. This campaign was called “Food as It Should Be”. In June 2015, 90% of the ingredients used in food were natural. These techniques include billboards, billboards and radio advertising. This campaign was able to use more than $25,000,000 from the chain’s $90,000,000 annual media budget. Christopher Hollander is the chain’s chief of marketing. (Fishman 2).
Behind-the scenes work is just the same as the customer purchases for any company. Panera employs more than 47,000 people. Half of those employees are full-time. Most staff are students or young people between the ages of 18 and 24. Executives and managers may be a rare exception. Online sources state that many people are hired in a matter of minutes, and there are many sites that claim they were hired at the moment. The hourly salary of a cashier is $8.86. Line cooks are paid $9.68 an hour. Bakers earn $12.09 per hour. After one year of employment, a full-time associate can receive a 401k. Additional insurance products include vision, life, and dental insurance. The work environment can vary depending on your job. For example, a cashier may be organized and clean while a baker might be messy and dirty from baking fresh bread. Panera’s reputation of making homemade bread is high so a flour-covered kitchen is possible. An anonymous employee said that their typical day consisted of completing tasks and communicating with customers and coworkers. My managers taught me how to work together, communicate effectively, and have fun while I was working. My managers were incredible: they really took an interest and became friends with me.” (glassdoor 1). Panera is rated a 3.7-star employer.
American’s like to keep track how many calories they eat. Panera was first to provide calories for every item on their menu. After looking at a lot of websites and reflecting on my own eating habits, I found that my daily calorie intake was 2,915 calories. I’m overweight). I was overweight when I first visited Panera Bread.
Cheddar Sandwich (360 calories), Broccoli Cheddar soup (265 calories), and a plum ginger hibiscus tea (0 calories). Also, on my way out, I picked up a Wild Blueberry muffin (470 cals). This is 1,090 calories. My calorie intake would have been fine if I hadn’t had breakfast or a light dinner the previous night. However, if I had consumed all three meals that day, it is likely that I exceeded my daily calorie limit. Panera, despite being healthy, can have issues with high-calorie bakery products like the scone. Panera has removed many unnecessary additives so that they can still include high-calorie, natural foods. The individual who eats the food can decide whether they prefer to consume foods with low calories or foods that are free of artificial preservatives and additives.
Panera Bread proved that healthy, delicious food is possible (Saich 1). They are committed to serving 100% clean food and they offer a safe environment for all employees as well as paying customers. In my opinion, the food tastes great despite not being overly processed like fast food restaurants. Panera Bread continues to live up to its core beliefs by serving “Food As I Should Be”.
