Popular restaurant chain's massive change may anger customers todayheadline

People may have many differing food-related opinions, but here’s one undeniable fact: prepackaged baked goods will never smell or taste better than freshly made cinnamon rolls, bread, and cookies. 

Although many pastry lovers are guilty of purchasing one too many boxes of Little Debbie snacks, especially the addictive Cosmic Brownies or Honey Buns, it’s only out of convenience.

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A made-from-scratch version will always beat the days-old, plastic-wrapped cookie or cake that probably sat in a factory for longer than we’d like to believe.

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For efficiency and financial reasons, not many restaurant chains make their pastries from scratch anymore. However, some have done it for years, becoming a reliable source for a quick treat while on the go.   

Panera rises to fame with its beloved fresh-baked bread and pastries

Panera is one of few major restaurant chains that has prided itself on making baked goods from scratch, earning well-deserved recognition for sticking to its brand. 

The restaurant chain built its name on freshly baked products, which it incorporates into many menu items. This helped it rise to fame and turned some of its creations into iconic staples.  

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However, it was perhaps only a matter of time before Panera began to mimic the strategies of other chains that failed to adopt made-from-scratch business models.   

If Panera’s bread and pastries have suddenly started tasting a little stale, maybe your taste buds aren’t tricking you. The company has begun switching to an “on-demand” bread-baking model in which products arrive at stores partially baked and are finished on-site in the restaurants’ ovens.

Panera has a reason behind its shocking decision

Panera revealed it will close all its remaining fresh dough facilities over the next two years, as reported by NRN on April 30.

As shocking as the news may sound, the company quietly began this transition in early 2024 as part of a three-year turnaround plan. This plan aims to boost growth by changing Panera’s development pace, improving its guest experience, introducing more menu innovation, and implementing a sustainable profitability strategy.

Although it’s unbelievable that a company that has built an entire brand on its freshly baked bread and pastries would suddenly completely remove the key thing that made it stand out from the rest, it has an explanation for this madness. 

This massive change in its core business aims to simplify operations and ensure consistency in the availability of its products across all locations.

To successfully implement the new business model, Panera has partnered with third-party artisan bakery producers, who will bake the goods and ship them to their restaurants. 

“This new model allows us to develop more stores and grow throughout the United States in cities and towns that we couldn’t expand to previously because of the limited distance those [fresh dough facility delivery] trucks could travel,” said Panera Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Brooke Buchanan.

Since starting its three-year turnaround plan, it has closed at least eight fresh dough facilities and has nine remaining. This is a massive downsizing from the 24 facilities it had in 2016.

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The shutdown of these facilities will reduce production costs and increase the company’s profitability. However, this also means that hundreds of employees will lose their jobs over the next few months. 

Panera claims the employees affected by the shutdown will be offered jobs at its restaurants. It will also host job fairs to facilitate other opportunities for them to pursue. 

“While it was a difficult decision, it’s the right decision for our future, and I’m really excited about the feedback we’re hearing from our guests, whether they realize the change or not,” said Buchanan.

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