Panera Bread to enter Canada, launch new pizza

ST. LOUIS — Panera Bread plans to enter Canada with its first international locations and launch a product targeting evening customers.

The company told analysts it is beginning to target evening customers by testing its first product specifically for that market: Crispani, an artisan flatbread.

Panera's chief executive Ron Shaich said that the pizza-like Crispani wasn't developed to put the company in competition with pizza delivery chains or casual restaurants featuring pizza. Panera said it will begin a national rollout of Crispani in the fall, with 75 percent of its outlets carrying the product by year's end.