Panera Bread
Panera Bread is an American chain store of bakery-café fast food restaurants with over 2,000 locations, all of which are in the United States and Canada. Its headquarters are in Sunset Hills, Missouri. The chain operates as Saint Louis Bread Company in the Greater St. Louis area, where it has over 100 locations.[6]
Company type
St. Louis Bread Co.:
1987
Kirkwood, Missouri, U.S.
Panera Bread:
1998
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
St. Louis Bread Company:
Ken Rosenthal and Linda Rosenthal
Panera Bread:
Louis Kane and Ronald M. Shaich
- Panera Bread:
1,902 - St. Louis Bread Co.:
100
US$5.795 billion (2022)[3]
US$145 million (2016)
US$1.301 billion (2016)
US$288 million (2016)
About 140,000[4]
Panera offers a wide array of pastries and baked goods, such as bagels, brownies, cookies, croissants, muffins, and scones. These, along with Panera's artisan breads, are typically baked the day before by an on-staff baker. Aside from the bakery section, Panera has a regular menu for dine-in or takeout including flatbreads, pizzas, warm grain bowls, panini, pasta, salads, sandwiches, side choices, and soups, as well as coffee, espresso drinks, frozen drinks, fruit smoothies, hot chocolate, iced drinks, lattes, lemonade, and tea.[7][8]
Until 1999 and again from 2017 to 2021, the company also owned Au Bon Pain.[9] Panera Bread is itself owned by JAB Holding Company, which is, in turn, owned by the Reimann family of Germany.[10] Panera was once the largest provider of free Wi-Fi hotspots in the United States.[11]
Social responsibility[edit]
Panera Cares: non-profit restaurants[edit]
In 2010, the company's nonprofit foundation created Panera Cares, a "Pay what you can", pay it forward (PIF), and traditional charitable behavior [60] restaurant in its home market of St. Louis.[61] CEO Ron Shaich based the idea on an NBC profile of the SAME Cafe in Denver, Colorado.[62] It later expanded the concept to Dearborn, Michigan; Portland, Oregon; Chicago; and Boston.[63][64] Several of their sites served 3,500 customers weekly.[65] The Panera Cares in Chicago shut down at the end of January 2015.[66] The Panera Cares in Portland, Oregon shut down at the end of June 2016. The original location near St. Louis closed in January 2018.[67] The last location in Boston closed on February 15, 2019.[68][69]
Caged and cage-free eggs[edit]
On November 5, 2015, Panera pledged that it would use only cage-free eggs in all of its stores by 2020.[70] Panera also announced the addition of more plant-based proteins, such as edamame and organic quinoa, to its menu. At the time of the announcement, the company said it was 21% cage-free in the roughly 70 million eggs it used in 2015.[71] In December 2016, it published its third animal welfare progress report, announcing new efforts to improve broiler chicken welfare.[72] In 2021, Panera announced that it had transitioned to cage-free eggs for 65% of its egg supply but not yet the remaining 35%.[73]
Panera Bread on climate change[edit]
Panera Bread includes a cool food pledge in its campaign to curb global warming. Though associated with high carbon emissions, meat consumption in the United States remains high.[74] Also, beef production accounts for about 14.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.[74] Panera Bread provides American consumers with dietary guidelines to help them change their eating patterns to help reduce carbon emissions. Through the cool foods pledge, the company uses traffic lights for different healthy and unhealthy foods. Foods labeled green are considered healthy, while those labeled yellow should be consumed in moderation. In 2015, Panera Bread also announced its policy against the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), making it the first food chain in the country to question the safety and environmental friendliness of these foods.[75]
Community giving[edit]
The Day-End Dough-Nation program provides unsold bread and baked goods to local area hunger relief agencies and charities. Panera Bread bakery-cafes donate $100 million worth of unsold bread and baked goods annually to local organizations in need.[76] Panera also supports events held by nonprofit organizations serving those in need by donating a certificate or fresh bakery products.[77]
Controversies and lawsuits[edit]
Violation of California Labor Code[edit]
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 paid $5 million to settle all claims and denied any wrongdoing.[78][79]
Racial discrimination allegation (2011)[edit]
In 2011, a former employee filed a racial discrimination lawsuit alleging that he was fired after repeatedly having a Black man work the cash register instead of putting him in a less visible location, and assigning "pretty young girls" as the cashiers, as requested by supervisors.[80][81] The plaintiff also said he was fired after requesting another month off after returning from three months of sick leave.[80] Panera said that 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".[80] The plaintiff worked in a store owned by franchisee Sam Covelli,[82] who also owns the stores that were involved in the 2003 racial discrimination lawsuit.[83][84] Covelli Enterprises is the single largest franchisee of Panera Bread with nearly 300 stores in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Florida.[85] The lawsuit was settled in June 2012.[86]
Peanut butter allergy[edit]
In 2016, a lawsuit was filed after an employee at a Natick, Massachusetts store put peanut butter on a sandwich, despite being informed that the person receiving the sandwich had a peanut allergy. The plaintiffs charged the company and those employees involved with intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress as well as assault and battery.[87] The recipient of the sandwich was hospitalized briefly.[88]
Class action for failure to pay overtime wages (2017)[edit]
In December 2017, former employees filed a class action lawsuit against the company, claiming they were not paid overtime wages.[89]
Tabler v. Panera LLC et al[edit]
In March 2019, a class action lawsuit was filed by Plaintiff Brianna Tabler in California, accusing Panera of false advertising and fraud. While Panera's former CEO Ron Schaich claimed that Panera's menus continue to be completely void of artificial flavors, sweeteners, and ingredients,[90] Tabler argues against the company's intentional redaction of the fact that their products contain traces of the synthetic biocide glyphosate.[91] In October 2019, Judge Lucy Koh granted a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. Tabler filed an amended complaint in November 2019, to which Panera filed in January 2020 another motion to dismiss.[92] Tabler filed a motion to voluntarily dismiss the complaint on July 30, 2020, closing the case.[93]
Charged Lemonade lawsuits [edit]
On September 10, 2022, 21-year-old Sarah Katz, a student at the University of Pennsylvania, purchased and consumed a "supercharged" lemonade drink from a Panera location in Philadelphia. Allegedly, Katz was unaware of the high caffeine content of the drinks, which has been criticized as extremely dangerous; a 20-US-fluid-ounce (590 ml) Panera Charged Lemonade contained 260 mg of caffeine, equivalent to four espresso shots, and the 30-ounce (890 mL) lemonade contained 390 mg (six espressos).[94][95][96] Katz suffered from Long QT Type 1 Syndrome, a heart condition that can result in an irregular heartbeat in certain situations. On the same day, Katz went into cardiac arrest while at another restaurant and was transported to the Pennsylvania Presbyterian Hospital, where she suffered another arrest and was pronounced dead.[97]
In October 2023, Katz's parents sued Panera for the wrongful death of their daughter caused by misleading labeling and description of the drink.[97] Later in October, amid reports that dispensers had been moved behind the counter to limit access, Panera changed labeling for the drink, noting its caffeine content and need for moderation, and warning potentially sensitive consumers.[98]
In December 2023, a second individual was reported as having died after consuming Panera's Charged Lemonade. The individual, Dennis Brown, died at age 46 after reportedly consuming three servings of Charged Lemonade at a Panera location in Fleming Island, Florida. Brown had high blood pressure, a developmental delay, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and a chromosomal disorder that caused a mild intellectual disability and blurry vision, according to a wrongful death lawsuit filed by family members.[99][100] Social media commentators began to nickname the drink "the lemonade that kills you."[101][102]
The caffeine content was later reduced by Panera in December 2023, with the 30-ounce drink reduced to 237 mg and the 20-ounce to 158 mg.[102]
Delivery costs[edit]
In February 2024, Panera settled a class-action lawsuit for $2 million, which accused the company a year beforehand of misleading customers from 2020 to 2021 about its costs for delivery orders. Panera did not admit fault in the settlement.[103]
System outage[edit]
Starting on March 23, 2024, Panera Bread experienced a nation-wide system outage that impacted its website, mobile application, and internal systems.[104][105] Employees stated that their schedules could not be viewed, internal systems for tracking inventory and orders were inaccessible, and hours worked were not being tracked.[105] Customers were not able to redeem coupons and rewards, as the mobile application stated "essential maintenance and enhancements" were being performed.[104] However, while members of Panera's subscription service, the Unlimited Sip Club, which offers free drinks on a two-hour rotation, were unable to claim the drinks prior to pickup, were reportedly able to mention being members during in-store visits and receive them.[104] Starting on March 26, Panera's online systems were slowly becoming available to employees and customers. On March 27, all systems appear to be working as normal. As of now, Panera Bread has not provided an explanation for the system outage.