Panera Bread Case Study (Short Version)

Panera Bread: Case Study

Panera Bread

The dream of the Panera Bread Company began in in 1981 when Au Bon Pain Co. was founded. Au Bon Pain was so successful that in 1993 they purchased the St. Louis Bread Company. By 1999 they began expanding under the Panera Bread name and is currently headquartered in Missouri. There are 1,562 locations spread across forty different states and also in Ontario, Canada. Some locations are company owned while others are franchises. (Panera Bread) Ronald Shiach is the CEO and chairman of the board and William Moreton is the President and Co-CEO. Panera Bread’s main goal was to incorporate fresh baked bread into everyone’s dining experience where people “slowed down to enjoy real food.” (Lipson, 2008) Panera Bread’s quick service locations provide breads, sandwiches, soups, desserts, and other bakery items. (Panera Bread) Panera Bread strives to provide more nutritional foods and a more welcoming environment to the fast paced, unhealthy quick stop restaurants in America today. The restaurants owned by the company bake their breads fresh every day at each individual location. (Panera Bread) This is just one reason that Panera Bread consistently earns recognition for its freshness and high customer ratings in surveys. (Lipson, 2008) The company has provided good food and a great atmosphere that appeal to families and to business men and women for a warm inviting place to meet and eat. Panera Bread has produced a high quality environment where costumers do not mind spending more money to get the quality which has helped the financial security of this company. Even though our country has been in the middle of a recession with less individuals eating out, Panera Bread has stayed consistent by still offering quality food at consistent prices so that everyone receives a quality product for the money they spend.

General Environment

Panera Bread like many other companies is not immune to legal issues. In 2011 Panera...