Panera Moving Forward With Change to How It Makes Food
Panera Bread has been around since 1987, when it was first founded as St. Louis Bread Company. The fast-casual restaurant chain changed its name to Panera Bread in the 1990s, and today, Panera Bread restaurants across the country are popular spots to pick up a quick sandwich, salad or bowl of soup.
"We are Panera Bread, and and we believe that good food, food you can feel good about, can bring out the best in all of us," the restaurant states on their website. "Food served in a warm, welcoming environment, by people who care. To us, that’s good eating and that’s why we’re here."
Now, Panera Bread is moving forward with a change to how it makes its bread, and that will result in shutting down some facilities.
"Panera Bread will permanently shut down its fresh dough production facilities in areas with underperforming locations as part of its nationwide effort to move away from baking bread from scratch in its cafes," notes USA Today in a July 25 feature.
Unfortunately, this will mean a loss of jobs. A production facility in Brentwood, MO, is scheduled to close by Sept. 12, and all 72 employees are set to lose their jobs because of the move, according to Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notifications notice.
Nation's Restaurant News also reports that as of June 24, four locations across the country have already shut down their operations.
According to USA Today, "Panera says affected employees will receive a severance package as well as outplacement services."
Per Nation's Restaurant News and USA Today, Panera is changing to an "on-demand" bread production model. With Panera's old system, fresh dough facilities would mix and shape their dough, and then, those loaves would then be sent to its restaurants, where workers would proof and bake them in the morning. But, going forward, third-party contractors will prep the dough using Panera's recipes and instructions. Then, they'll partially bake the bread at those sites, freeze it and ship it to restaurants for the final baking.
According to USA Today, Panera says this is a good thing for consumers. "The spokesperson said under the par-baked model, cafes are now able to prepare baked goods throughout the day as needed instead of just in the morning, making them more readily available for customers," USA Today reports.
No word yet on when these changes will kick in nationwide. But, don't be surprised if your bread seems a little bit different from Panera in the coming months.