Panera Bread Company



Panera Bread Company

History and Introduction

The Panera Bread Company is the chain of bakery-cafes operating across the United States, having the 1652 franchises and bakery cafes in 44 states. The company was primarily established in 1981 by the Chairman of the Board and co CEO, Ronald M. Shaich and William W. Moreton. The mission of the company is to spread a loaf of bread in every arm therefore, this single goal helps in making the bread available to all of the potential and existing consumers across the United States. The company formerly known as the Au Bon Pain Company and then it changed its name in 1998 as the Panera Bread Company. The company fundamentally showcases the art of making the bread through making the great crust, crumb and the craft of loaf and bread.

The Panera Bread Company is considered as the specialty bread maker nationwide. The company believes in maintaining the operations through understanding the customer requirements from made to order sandwiches to the tossed to order salads and soups (Panera Bread, 2013). The company has recently secured the award of Casual Dining Brand of the Year in 2012 followed by the other awards and recognitions such as MUFSO Pioneer Award in 2011, Nation's Restaurant News Menu Master Innovator Award in 2011, Customer Service Leader Award in 2010, named among top ten bread bakers across America in 2010, America's Hottest Brand in 2009, Platinum Award in 2009, and named as number 1 healthiest bakery by Health Magazine.

The study intends to focus on Panera Bread Company with the intention to expound the operations management activities of that organization. For this purpose, the paper would reflect the history and background of the organization along with the comprehensive description of the types of goods sold by the company. Moreover, the supply chain characteristics of the company and the required areas for improvement. The study also aims to extenuate how the company maintains its competitive advantage, satisfy its customers through the premium and excellent quality of its products, benefits to employees, its job designs or offerings, and the working environment of the company.

Discussion

The Panera Bread Company is primarily a Bakery-Café where it deals with the bakery items as well as café items. The bakery contains the freshly baked breads including Artisan Breads and Specialty Breads, tempting pastries including the Artisan Pastries, Brownies, Muffins, Cakes, and Cookies, captivate sweets including the Scones and Sweet Rolls, energizing egg soufflés, and tantalize bagels including the Cream Cheese Bagels and Signature Bagels, and the Breakfast Sandwiches. Whereas, the Café menu includes the coffee, sandwiches, tea, pasta, stew, beverages, soups, salads and menu for Panera Kids. The Panera Bakery-Café pays the special heed on quality and nutrition on its every item with the extraordinary focus on standardized recipes, values provided by the suppliers, testing in accredited labs, and other regulations based on the customer values. Each item in the menu is handcrafted and can be customized according to the specification of customers such as variation in ...