Panera Bread® Unveils New Plant Based, Protein Rich and Nutrient-Packed Menus

ST. LOUIS, July 13, 2017 -- Panera Bread Company (NASDAQ:PNRA) today announced the addition of three new curated menus to its digital-ordering experience: Plant Based, Protein Rich and Nutrient-Packed.  The new menus, enabled by Panera’s clean pantry and leading digital-ordering platform, make it even easier for guests to select and easily customize their food choices with the ingredients that best serve their taste and dietary preferences.

Panera is the first national restaurant concept to fully integrate wellness curated menus and specialized items directly into its digital-ordering experience, offering a variety of options in each new menu category.  Each curated menu also includes new salads specially created for Panera by registered dietitian nutritionists. And every Panera salad can be customized from more than 50 ingredients available in the company’s pantry. The new menus are:

• Plant Based (Featuring the Ancient Grain Greek Salad created by Frances Largeman-Roth, RDN):
  A menu for vegetarians, vegans or those who simply like their veggies. Options feature an abundance of high-quality, clean ingredients, including almonds and quinoa, and fresh produce like romaine, arugula, avocado, citrus and blueberries.    
      
• Protein Rich (Featuring the Avocado Cobb Salad with Chicken created by Mitzi Dulan, RD):
  A menu for guests who are fitness-minded or just interested in the lasting energy that protein supplies. Each option provides at least 20 percent of the recommended daily value of protein.   
     
• Nutrient-Packed (Featuring the Blueberry and White Balsamic Salad created by Mitzi Dulan, RD): A menu of nutrient-packed meals with the right balance of calories, fat, sodium, carbohydrates, fiber and protein to help fuel guests without over-indulging.

Comment by Ron Shaich, Panera founder, Chairman and CEO
“The investments we’ve made in technology and digital innovation at Panera are all designed to constantly improve the guest experience,” Shaich said.  “The new curated menus take the guesswork out of our menu for a guest with specific taste or dietary preferences, making it faster and easier for them to enjoy our food.”

“We think people should be able to eat the way they want, whether it’s by customizing a menu item to their own tastes or knowing they have many food options to choose from,” said Katie Bengston, MS, RDN, LD, nutrition manager for Panera Bread.  “The new curated menus are another way we’re making it easier for our guests to order great food that works for their lifestyle.”
             
The new Panera curated menus can be easily found within the company’s digital-ordering experience via in-store kiosk, web, or mobile app.  Guests simply select a curated menu to uncover the Panera offerings that meet the criteria for the new categories. Like all of Panera’s menu items, the new menus and the new salads are free from all artificial sweeteners, preservatives, flavors and colors from artificial sources.

To order from Panera’s new curated menus, visit www.PaneraBread.com, an in-store kiosk, or the Panera mobile app.  To learn more about the new menus, visit www.PaneraBread.com/curatedmenus. 

About Panera Bread
Thirty years ago, at a time when quick service meant low quality, Panera set out to challenge this expectation. We believed that food that was good and that you could feel good about, served in a warm and welcoming environment by people who cared, could bring out the best in all of us. To us, that is food as it should be and that is why we exist.
               
So we began with a simple commitment: to bake fresh bread every day in our bakery-cafes.  No short cuts, just bakers with simple ingredients and hot ovens. Each night, any unsold bread and baked goods were shared with neighbors in need.

These traditions carry on today, as we have continued to find ways to be an ally to our guests. That means crafting a menu of soups, salads and sandwiches that we are proud to feed our families. Like poultry and pork raised without antibiotics on our salads and sandwiches. A commitment to transparency and options that empower our guests to eat the way they want. Seasonal flavors and whole grains. And a commitment to removing artificial additives (flavors, sweeteners, preservatives and colors from artificial sources) from the food in our bakery-cafes. Why? Because we think that simpler is better and we believe in serving food as it should be. Because when you don’t have to compromise to eat well, all that is left is the joy of eating.

We’re also focused on improving quality and convenience. With investments in technology and operations, we now offer new ways to enjoy your Panera favorites – like mobile ordering and Rapid Pick-Up for to-go orders – all designed to make things easier for our guests. As of June 27, 2017, there were 2,043 bakery-cafes in 46 states and in Ontario, Canada, operating under the Panera Bread®, Saint Louis Bread Co.® or Paradise Bakery & Cafe® names. For more information, visit panerabread.com or find us on Twitter (@panerabread), Facebook (facebook.com/panerabread) or Instagram (@panerabread).

Media Contact:
Jonathan Yohannan
[email protected]