Panera Bread Leads with Better Bacon
September 21 2016 - 7:00AM
Panera Bread (NASDAQ:PNRA) is leading the restaurant industry with
better bacon. Today, Panera announced that it will serve clean
bacon on its sandwiches and salads that is free of artificial
preservatives, flavors, sweeteners and colors from artificial
sources prohibited by the company’s No No List, and sourced from
pigs that meet Panera’s animal welfare standards for reduced
confinement and antibiotics.
Industry-Leading Commitments
Panera’s clean bacon is made with six simple ingredients: pork,
water, sea salt, sugar, celery powder and thyme extract. The clean
bacon:
- Is cured without artificial additives. Celery
powder is used as a natural curing agent, in place of additives
common to conventionally cured meats, like sodium nitrite, sodium
phosphate and sodium erythorbate.
- Includes no artificial flavors. No
conventional liquid smoke or artificial flavor enhancements.
- Is sourced with animal welfare in mind. Since
2015, Panera’s bacon has been sourced from pigs raised on a
vegetarian diet, without antibiotics or gestation crates for
pregnant sows.
The journey to clean bacon was kick started by Panera’s No No
List commitment, but became a year-long passion project for the
culinary team when head chef Dan Kish took the opportunity to
rethink Panera’s bacon experience.
“There are few foods as beloved as bacon,” said Kish. “As we
approached the challenge of remaking bacon without artificial
curing agents and preservatives, we took another step back to think
about bacon as it should be: the perfect slice. My food philosophy
is that if you’re going to truly enjoy an indulgence, like salty,
smoky bacon, it should be the best you can get.”
Culinary Enhancements
- More belly: When making perfectly sized bacon
strips, there are often broken pieces and trimmings. It turns out
these bits work perfectly as chopped bacon for Panera’s salads,
which allows the company to use premium cuts for its crumbles and
helps minimize waste.
- Herb-brined: Inspired by a Thanksgiving
turkey, the clean bacon is brined with aromatics, like thyme, and
seasonings, like sea salt and sugar.
- Extra applewood smoke: Panera has long used
real smoke on its bacon, but chose to develop a deeper, more
complex bacon flavor for its clean bacon by applying extra
applewood smoke.
- The perfect bite: 25% thicker than before, for
maximum crunch with minimal sliding on a sandwich.
- Crispier slices: Instead of being stored in
the refrigerator, Panera’s clean bacon is now taken out of the oven
and served at room temperature so that each guest enjoys crispier
slices.
“Clean bacon is an example of how you can amplify when you
simplify,” said Panera founder and CEO Ron Shaich. “By removing
artificial additives, we made a switch to better ingredients,
better texture and, ultimately, better flavor. We’re not just
offering clean bacon; it’s bacon that has been elevated in every
way.”
Today, Panera is sharing a taste of its new clean bacon at a
gallery space in New York City’s Meatpacking District. The
interactive space will feature Panera’s clean bacon story, with the
culinary team on hand to sample exclusive bacon-centric creations,
like bacon mac & cheese and BLT sliders (not available in
bakery-cafes). “The Art of Bacon” gallery space will be open to the
public on Wednesday, Sept. 21, from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. at 22 Little
West 12th St. Panera is inviting bacon fans to celebrate their love
of clean bacon on social media using the hashtag #baconfess. To
learn more visit www.baconfess.com.
In 2015, Panera served 2 million pounds – or more than 115
million slices – of bacon on its sandwiches and salads including
its most beloved sandwich, the Roasted Turkey Avocado BLT. Today,
all meats served at Panera are clean by its No No List standards
and the company is 95% of the way to a clean food menu, with just a
handful of bakery items left in the works.
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 28, 2016, there were 2,007 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:
Amanda Cardosi
Amanda.Cardosi@panerabread.com
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