...Panera Bread Case Study Paper August 16, 2013 Introduction Panera Bread Company got its start in 1981 known as Au Bon Pain Co. Inc. Since that time it has gone through several changes until it eventually became the Panera Bread Company in 1999. They have forged forward through the recession and a weak economy to become a well-respected restaurant known for its quality food. This review will take you through the beginnings of Panera Bread to where they are now. It will also cover their main competition and how they compare to each other, and the different charitable organizations that Panera sponsors. Founded by Louis Kane and Ron Shaich, Au Bon Pain Co was established in 1981. Their stores were mainly along the east coast of the United States and internationally where they prospered throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s. “In 1993, Au Bon Pain Co., Inc. purchased Saint Louis Bread Company, a chain of 20 bakery-cafes located in the St. Louis area” (Panera Bread, 2013). During that time the St. Louis Bread Company was in the process of renovating its bakery-cafes in the St. Louis area. Between 1993 and 1997 average unit volumes increased by 75% after completing a comprehensive re-staging of Saint Louis Bread Company. Eventually the name was changed to Panera Bread. Panera is a word that has roots in “breadbasket” in Latin. Panera Bread knew that they had the potential of becoming one of the leading brands in the nation. In order for Panera Bread to reach its potential...
Words: 3239 - Pages: 13
...Running head: PANERA BREAD CASE ANALYSIS Panera Bread Case Analysis LaToya Melvin Davenport University BUSN 520 Table of Contents INTRODUCTION 3 LITERATURE REVIEW Synopsis of the Situation 4 Key Issues 4 Define the Problem & the Opportunity 6 Alternative Solutions 6 Selected Solution 7 Implementation/Recommendations 7 CONCLUSIONS 7 WORKS CITED 8 Abstract This case study focuses on the market analysis for the Panera Bread Company. The case will examine five components; the synopsis, key issues, problem and opportunity, alternative solutions, selected solution, and implementation/recommendations. Throughout the case, questions will arise as Panera faces challenges in the growth and the operation of the business that will include such issues as marketing, pricing and factors within its consumer base. Literature Review Synopsis Panera Bread is a company founded in 1982, named Au Bon Pain at that time by Louis Kane and Ron Shaich. Panera Bread goal was to offer the best quality product and to be nationally recognized by its bakery-café specialty. Panera Bread’s strategy is to make great bread and to make it broadly available, being the bread experts in the industry. They service consumers-on-the-go, who...
Words: 1173 - Pages: 5
...Hartsig Panera Bread Company The success or failure of a company depends on how well the company can manage key environmental factors. Each and every company out there has a specific environment that will move it. Some of the factors can be prevented while others are completely out of control of the company. Panera Bread is one of the fastest growing chains in America today, there is only 5 states that do not have a Panera. A big key environmental force that created a great opportunity for Panera Bread was Technological and Competitive. Panera Bread offers an app in the Play store for Android and on ITunes for Apple, this app makes it super easy to order your food to go and pickup as soon as you get there with no line no waiting. A few more key factors that led to the growth of Panera Bread is the way they treat their customers. Customer service is a key factor that influences the consumers to keep coming back. Customers do not just pay for a meal but they pay for the entire experience. Excellent customer service skills and waitresses going above and beyond kept customers coming back. Another remarkable key factor was Panera Bread had the ability to respond quickly to shifting market conditions. Customers were constantly changing what they wanted, and restaurants needed to keep up with those changes (Dr. Desmarais, 2011). In order for a restaurant to be able to compete with rival companies it must have the ability to change. Panera Bread changed its menu to satisfy what the customer...
Words: 1000 - Pages: 4
...Q1. How has Panera Bread established a unique position in the restaurant industry? How has this unique position contributed to the firm’s success? Do you think Panera Bread will reach its goal of becoming a leading national brand in the restaurant industry? Why or why not? Panera Bread has established a unique position in the restaurant industry by developing itself with various approaches. First of all, Panera Bread has observed the consumer always wanted good food quality and speed services. This has given the Panera Bread an opportunity to reposition itself by joining the concept of fast food and casual dining category. This category provided the consumer the alternative they wanted by capturing the advantages of the both categories. Besides, with the good timing which became the first mover to this new category also led itself to this favorable position. This new category has made Panera Bread’s position not only unique but also contributed to its success. Panera Bread did a lot of things to distinguish itself from its rivals such as adding specialty food, different menus, catering service, new time suggesting of specialty food and providing inviting neighborly atmosphere. According to the text, Panera Bread serves nearly six million customers a week systemwide and become one of the largest chains. This shows that the unique position has contributed to its success. In my opinion, I think Panera Bread will reach its goal because the company is relying on its unique position...
Words: 1649 - Pages: 7
...CASE TEACHING NOTE 8 Panera Bread Company OVERVIEW AS PANERA BREAD COMPANY HEADED INTO 2007, IT WAS CONTINUING TO SWIFTLY EXPAND ITS MARKET PRESENCE. THE COMPANY’S STRATEGIC INTENT WAS TO MAKE GREAT BREAD BROADLY AVAILABLE TO CONSUMERS ACROSS THE UNITED STATES. IT HAD OPENED 155 NEW COMPANY-OWNED AND FRANCHISED BAKERY-CAFES IN 2006, BRINGING ITS TOTAL TO 1,027 UNITS IN 36 STATES. PLANS WERE IN PLACE TO OPEN ANOTHER 170 TO180 CAFÉ LOCATIONS IN 2007 AND TO HAVE NEARLY 2,000 PANERA BREAD BAKERY-CAFÉS OPEN BY THE END OF 2010. MANAGEMENT WAS CONFIDENT THAT PANERA BREAD’S ATTRACTIVE MENU AND THE DINING AMBIANCE OF ITS BAKERY-CAFÉS PROVIDED SIGNIFICANT GROWTH OPPORTUNITY, DESPITE THE FIERCELY COMPETITIVE NATURE OF THE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY. Panera Bread competed with specialty food, casual dining and quick service restaurant retailers including national, regional and locally owned restaurants. Its closest competitors were restaurants in the so-called “fast casual” restaurant category. Fast casual restaurants filled the gap betweeen fast-food and casual, full table service dining. A fast casual restaurant provided quick-service dining (much like fast-food enterprises) but were distinguished by enticing menus, higher food quality, and more inviting dining environments; typical meal costs per guest were in the $7-$12 range. Some fast casual restaurants had limited table service and some were self-service (like fast-food establishments). Between January 1999 and December 2006...
Words: 5678 - Pages: 23
...Panera Bread Case 1. What is Panera’s Strategy? Which of the five generic competitive strategies most closely fits the competitive approach that Panera is taking? What type of competitive advantage is Panera trying to achieve? Panera Bread’s strategy is to provide a premium specialty bakery and café experience to urban workers and suburban dwellers. As well as to create a specialty café anchored by an authentic, fresh-dough artisan bakery and upscale quick-service menu selections. Broad Differentiation is the competitive approach Panera Bread has taken. They compete on the basis of providing an entire dining experience they call “Panera Warmth” .Their environments are distinctive and engaging, have an alluring and hospitable atmosphere, free Wi-Fi , real china & stainless silverware. Also regular changes in menu offerings to adapt to consumer wants and needs are points of emphasis to differentiate themselves from the competition. The type of competitive advantage they’re striving to build is based on the triple combination of Product, Environment, and Great Service (PEGS). Prior to Panera Bread going nationwide, the management performed cross-country market research and concluded that consumers could get excited about a fast and high quality dining experience, called fast casual. Panera Bread is attempting to achieve competitive advantage with offerings that rivals don’t have and can’t afford to match. In this case, delicious handcrafted bread arriving fresh daily, served...
Words: 1054 - Pages: 5
...Panera Bread Company Panera Bread began way back in 1981 as Au Bon Pain co. Inc. It was founded by Louis Kane and Ron Shaich. It operated along the east coast and internationally throughout the 1980s and 1990s. It quickly became the dominant leader within the bakery-café category. By 1997, it was clear the Panera Bread had the potential to become one of the best brands in the nation. Because the brand took off so quickly and is well known around the world. We as investors and consultants we need to look at what can make the company even better and continue to grow even more. In order to do so we will need to look at a SWOT analysis of the company, determine if the company possess core or distinctive competencies, and recommendations regarding actions the company needs to take to strengthen its competitive position. SWOT analysis is a planning method used to evaluate the strengthens, weaknesses, opportunities and threats involved in running a successful business. First we will discuss Panera Bread's strengthens. One of the very best thing about Panera Bread is that there is always fresh baked bread daily. Most restaurants offer free wifi for their guest. Another strong point is that Panera offers a menu for every time of the day and the menu also lets you decided what is healthy for you to eat. The menu lets the customer know exactly how many calories they are taking in with ordering that particular meal. The main strengthen in...
Words: 696 - Pages: 3
...1. What is Panera Bread’s strategy? Which of the five generic competitive strategies discussed in Chapter 5 most closely fit the competitive approach that Panera Bread is taking? What type of competitive advantage is Panera Bread trying to achieve? Panera Bread is a company with unique and effective concept and strategy which has given them a competitive advantage over its competitors in the submarket industry. Panera Bread’s strategy includes providing specialty bakery and café experience to urban workers and suburban dwellers. They specialize in fresh baked bread that made with quality and detail, made to order sandwiches, custom roasted coffees and other café beverage. Panera Bread has distinctive style to its menu, café design, inviting ambience with the decoration of its café locations. Panera offers their customers the chance to come in the café to order breakfast, lunch, daytime and the “chill out”- time between the breakfast and lunch and between lunch and dinner. Panera Bread’s growth strategy was by opening both company-owned and franchised Panera Bread locations, the franchising has been a key competent of the company’s efforts to broaden it markets penetration. In class, we discussed different generic competitive strategies that company employ. Panera Bread’s strategies can be categories under the Best-Cost Provider strategy. Panera Bread provide a fairly common café beverages around the country, but the have manage to offer their products at lower cost to it...
Words: 878 - Pages: 4
...PANERA BREAD COMPANY Introduction Panera Bread Company is the national bakery-café concept which operates in the casual restaurant industry. Founded in 1981 by Louis Kane and Ron Schaich, entirely it was registered as Au Bon Pain Co. with several chains. In 1999, the founders sold Au Bon Pain divisions and Panera bread1993. Currently, the company owns 1652 franchise stores in 44 states in United States and in Ontario, Canada The purpose of this essay is to identify and justify the important issues that transform Panera Bread into market-driven company. The market-driven approach is a business perspective that puts the customers as a starting point in all its strategies and operations in order to deliver the superior customer value and gain a competitive advantage (Day, 1994). This approach totally contradicts with the one of the previous years of the Industrial age, which the prominent scholar Drucker (1954) defined that the main purpose of the organization is to generate profit. But nowadays, it appears clear that for the future prosperity of the company, the building of the loyal customer base is necessary condition to be profitable. The support of the latest argument comes from Webster, et al. (1994) where it is concluded that the profit becomes as remuneration for a satisfied and retained customer. There are few capabilities that the company should be aware of in order to be oriented on the market (Cravens and Shipp, 1991). There is the marketing strategic process...
Words: 2046 - Pages: 9
...Heather Abramovic @02380550 Case Analysis of Panera Bread Company What does a SWOT Analysis reveal about the overall attractiveness of its situation? A SWOT analysis sizes up a company’s strengths and weaknesses; it’s market opportunities, and any external threats to the company’s well being. It identifies its strengths and weaknesses and provides the basis for crafting the best strategy for the company. Panera Bread’s most competitively valuable strengths have to be their attractive menu and aesthetically pleasing environment in each bakery-café. Panera also has a compliment see customer service they have won many awards and honors such as the prestigious Business Week’s 2010 list of the 25 “Customer Service Champs”. They have achieved these along with market success by providing courteous, capable, and efficient customer service. I believe a distinctive competence that Panera has is their fresh in-house baked pastries and bread that encompass top quality and detail that in return differentiate Panera from it’s competitors. With a strong strategic vision, proven competitively superior competencies, superior attention to customer needs, and a strong brand, Panera Bread appears to have a very attractive future and continued success in their industry. As long as they continue with their strategic vision they have in place, I believe Panera Bread will have no problem continuing their success in the market. Which rival chains appear to be Panera’s closest rivals? The threat...
Words: 1085 - Pages: 5
...Question 1 Panera Bread Company is a fast service, casual bakery-café that offers fresh-baked, quality breads and baked products as well as breakfast items, pastries, smoothies, made-to-order sandwiches, pasta, soups, salads, and café beverages. They pursue a broad differentiation strategy which seeks to differentiate the company’s product offering from rivals with superior attributes that will appeal to a broad spectrum of buyers. We believe Panera Bread Company approaches differentiation from the angels of unique taste and quality ingredients along with an aesthetically pleasing and inviting dinning environment. It was believed that the success of Panera Bread Company meant “being better than the guys across the street.” By developing a menu with diverse offerings, it enables Panera Bread Company to draw in customers from breakfast through the dinner hours each day. Because Panera Bread Company uses higher quality, fresh ingredients in their uniquely crafted menu items, they are able to command a higher price for its products than some of their rival competitors. Question 2 Internal strengths for Panera Bread Company: • Store design and ambiance. • Working with franchisees to open new locations; Superior product quality- artisan signature breads, made from four ingredients, as well as bagels, muffins, cookies, and other pastries, were baked fresh throughout the day at each café location. • Panera’s many honors and rewards. • My Panera Rewards that builds relationships...
Words: 1618 - Pages: 7
...1. What is Panera Bread’s strategy? In 1993, Au Bon Pain Co. purchased the Saint Louis Bread Company also called Panera bread, which was founded by Ken Rosenthal which was renovating its 20 bakery-cafés in the St. Louis area. By the end of 2006 the company operates or franchises 1027 Panera Bread bakery-cafés in 36 states and 17 manufacturing plants to support the bakery-cafés. Now Panera bread is one of the most popular chains of bakery –café restaurants in the United States and Canada selling hand-crafted breads, sandwiches, salads, soups, bakery items, and organic foods also some locations offer dinner pizzas. Panera Bread bakery-cafes are often associated with the concept of “fast casual”, a mixture between fast food and more up sale casual dining. Its freshly baked artisan breads are famous among the neighborhoods and cities all around the country. The main strategy behind Panera Bread was to create “a premium specialty bakery and café experience to urban workers and suburban dwellers”. Panera Bread’s strategy was and still is to make great bread and to make it broadly available. Part of that strategy is to make their cafés a home away from home, where people are comfortable and relaxed. Besides all that it has huge distinctive offering of menu where people can have whatever they can feel like having like breakfast, lunch and dinner any time of the day. Because of all these varieties its market is growing fastly so the Panera bread management is planning...
Words: 1058 - Pages: 5
...Panera Bread Company’s Vision and Mission Statement During 1999, Panera Bread sold the Au Bon restaurants and began focusing solely on the growth of the Panera Bread restaurants. As the company attempted to expand their operations across North America, their vision and mission statement became an even larger part of the operations. However, the statement is vague and offers little guidance to the employees of the company. “A loaf of bread in every arm” is not only next to impossible to achieve, but it also lacks specifics as to how the employees are to accomplish the company’s goals. In an attempt to clarify the statement, the company issued its “bread leadership goal,” which states “With a single goal of making great bread broadly available to consumers across America, Panera Bread freshly bakes more bread each day than any bakery-café concept in the country.” Although this statement is more specific, it still lacks the details on how the company is going to achieve the stated goals. What is the company doing to fulfill the statement and ensure there is a loaf of bread in every arm? The mission of Panera Bread states that the “Panera Cares community cafes exist to feed each and every person who walks through our doors with dignity regardless of their means.” The services that are offered in these cafes are attempting to fulfill the goal of getting a loaf of bread into every arm. Not only is the company tackling the issues of hunger, but they are also trying to maintain the...
Words: 4732 - Pages: 19
...Panera Bread Co. Have you ever wondered how to start a bakery chain? Well, Ron Shaich, co-founder of Panera Bread Co., started the business while in college. Based on an interview conducted by Colleen Debaise, Shaich was thrown out of a convenience store in the 1970s. He opened a rival shop on the campus of Clark University, where he attended college. After college, Shaich opened a cookie shop in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. (Debaise, 2011) Shaich has thousands of bakers who help make Panera what it is today. “The strategic management process is a sequential set of analyses and choices that increase the likelihood that a firm will choose a strategy that enable it to perform well” (Barney, 2007). According to Chapter 1 of Pearce and Robinson’s Strategic Management, the strategic management process is made up of many critical tasks. These tasks include formulating the company’s mission to include broad statements, conduct analysis that reflects the company’s internal conditions and capabilities, and finally to perform an assessment of the company’s external environment. The mission is fairly short and sweet; “a loaf of bread in every arm’ (Panera, 2011). The goal leadership goal of Panera is very similar to a vision statement, “With the single goal of making great bread broadly available to consumers across America, Panera Bread freshly bakes more bread each day than any bakery-café concept in the country.” (Panera, 2011). Panera has been become a “chill out” spot...
Words: 383 - Pages: 2
...Seleang Buth MHR 318-06 April 3, 2011 Case 1 – Panera Bread Company 1. What do you describe as Panera’s purpose, mission, and strategy? As stated on Panera Bread official website “a loaf of bread in every arm” is its mission statement. From the mission statement, I can assume a friendly, fun and confident strategy being in use. The article mentions that Panera wants to satisfy customers, probably enough to get all customers in the store to purchase a loaf of bread! 2. How well has Ron Shaich utilized the open systems model of organizations in moving Panera Bread Company forward in its competitive environment? Ron Shaich has utilized the open systems model of organizations in moving Panera Bread forward in its competitive environment very well. Panera Bread is constantly satisfying the customers by taking it customers’ input in the product. For example, when “Panera recognized that trans fat was a growing concern to our customers and the medical community. Therefore we made it a priority to eliminate it from our menu” (p. w-38, par. 2). Panera currently have zero trans fats on the menu. 3. What are the challenges to the management process posed by Panera’s fast paced growth? What problems do you see Shaich having to resolve to continue his record of success with the firm? Some challenges to the management process posed by Panera’s company. In the future, Shaich will have to continue to “be in the know” of what the trend is and will be as time progressed. Shaich...
Words: 392 - Pages: 2
