"With sales stagnating, Panera Brands CEO Paul Carbone unveiled a bold plan yesterday to win back customers: make everything better. Panera, once considered the gold standard in American fast-casual dining, has fallen behind competitors like Chipotle and Panda Express, with its sales dropping 5% to $6.1 billion last year. Carbone says the goal is to reach $7 billion in annual sales by 2028 behind "Panera RISE," a new strategy intended to undo the chain's cost-cutting measures, which he dubbed "death by a thousand paper cuts.""
"Lettuce: Salads will be fully romaine again and no longer include iceberg. "No one likes iceberg," said Carbone, who also may have been delivering a four-word review of Titanic. Salads will also have eight ingredients instead of the current five. Tomatoes: Starting next year, salads will contain sliced cherry tomatoes (rather than whole ones that were used to save money). Drinks: Frescas and "energy refresher" drinks (which have less caffeine than the ones that resulted in two wrongful death lawsuits) are in the offing."
Panera Brands reported a 5% sales decline to $6.1 billion and set a target of $7 billion by 2028 under "Panera RISE." The strategy reverses prior cost-cutting and restores ingredient quality, larger portions, and expanded drink options. Salads will switch to fully romaine and increase to eight ingredients, with sliced cherry tomatoes arriving next year. New beverages such as Frescas and an "energy refresher" are planned. The company will add frontline staff, upgrade decade-old self-order kiosks, and explore value-oriented menu items similar to casual-dining chains, while acknowledging a lack of appetizer offerings.
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