Panera Launches Panera Grocery, Enabling Customers To Order Pantry Items With Their Meals

Panera Announces Launch Of Panera Grocery

ST. LOUIS, April 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Now more than ever, Panera wants to help make good eating—and clean food—accessible to all.  Today, Panera announced the launch of Panera Grocery, a new service enabling guests to purchase high-demand pantry items such as milk, bread and fresh produce alongside their favorite Panera soup, salad or sandwich.  Leveraging the Panera supply network of clean ingredients, Panera Grocery is easily ordered on the Panera app or website and is available via contactless delivery, Rapid Pick-Up®, Drive-Up and Drive-Thru, as well as through contact-free delivery via Grubhub.

"From limited choices on grocery shelves to the growing need to limit the number of trips outside of the home, it is an incredibly stressful time when it comes to putting wholesome food on the table, and we knew Panera could help," said Niren Chaudhary, Panera CEO.  "With this new service we can help deliver good food and fresh ingredients from our pantry to yours, helping provide better access to essential items that are increasingly harder to come by."

Panera Grocery is easily ordered alongside your favorite Panera meal at participating cafes nationwide.  Just select "Panera Grocery" in the Panera app or on the website, or find the "Panera Grocery" items on Grubhub, and add the items to your order.  For MyPanera members, Panera Grocery orders will serve as a visit toward future MyPanera rewards.  Items currently available on Panera Grocery include:

• Freshly Baked Breads & Bagels: Classic White Loaf; Whole Grain Pan Loaf; French Baguette; Bagel Packs
• Milk & Dairy: Skim Milk & 2% Milk gallons (at participating cafes); Greek Yogurt, Yogurt Tubes; Plain Cream Cheese
• Fresh Produce: Apples, Avocados, Blueberries, Red Grapes, Vine Ripe Tomatoes

As with all of Panera's offerings, Panera Grocery items are clean - free of artificial preservatives, flavors, sweeteners and colors from artificial sources.  Panera Grocery is a separate, ingredients-based service operated out of Panera bakery cafes.  Additionally, you can find Panera at Home retail products anywhere you shop for groceries.

Panera continues to take extraordinary steps to safely serve our communities during these trying times, and Panera Grocery is just one of many offerings Panera has created to help people with an easy, wholesome meal everyone will love.  These include:

• Serving our guests via only a "To-Go" model in all company cafes
• New "Drive-Up" contactless curbside service
• Contactless Delivery—your meal left at your front door, front desk or location of choice
• Mindful Packaging, all to-go orders sealed for added protection
• Enhanced, rigorous cleaning & sanitization procedures in our bakery-cafes

For more information on how we are supporting all our Panera family members during this time, or to order Panera Grocery, visit www.PaneraBread.com.

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 bread fresh 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 for wellness 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 or not using artificial additives (preservatives, sweeteners, flavors, and colors from artificial sources on our No No list) in 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 and delivery – all designed to make things easier for our guests.

As of March 31, 2020, there were 2,174 bakery-cafes in 48 states and in Ontario, Canada, operating under the Panera Bread® or Saint Louis Bread Co.® names. For more information, visit panerabread.com or find us on Twitter (@panerabread), Facebook (facebook.com/panerabread) or Instagram (@panerabread).

Editor's Note: Knowing about the success of combinations of services like this that compete with our industry is key to seeing trends that impact automatic retail.