Strengths
Steady Fast growth: Panera is one of the fastest growing chains with sales over $200 million in 2001. According to exhibit 2 (Dess pg. 667) Panera Bread in 2002 ranked with the highest three-year sales growth rates as of June 2004. Panera Bread has about 1,027 baker-cafes in the United States, and is widely recognized for driving the nationwide trend for specialty breads. This is very impressive for this type of fast-casual food industry.
Part of exciting market segment: The new fast-casual market segment is developing quite rapidly and these restaurants are becoming key players in the industry. This market is a combination of the quick service of traditional fast-food restaurants with the higher quality food products found in sit-down restaurants. It?s a $6 billion industry growing at 15 to 20 percent each year. (Dess)
International Growth: By the en of 1997, the company had 96 bakery-cafes outside the United States, in Chile, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Brazil, and the United Kingdom. This is particularly important since international sales for the Top 100 chain restaurants are still at an increasing rate.
Quality Ingredients: Panera only uses the highest-quality ingredients, with only fresh dough and preservatives and the bread is baked fresh everyday. Panera Bread has a strong presence in the bakery-cafe segment. They have high quality food, including the award winning sourdough bread.
Meeting Customer Demands: In there attempts to take substantial steps in meeting growing customer demands, they have equipped their restaurants with free wireless internet. By offering this amenity they can fully meet the needs of sophisticated and diverse customer base. Panera Bread has strong customer loyalty; they have a strong appeal to customers. They also have a wide variety of food which appeals to a large group of people.
Commitment to the community: The Company established Operation Dough-Nation, a program that allows