Article

Panera commits to ‘clean ingredients’ by 2016

The bakery-cafe chain is on a 'mission to help fix a broken food system.'

June 3, 2014 by Alicia Kelso — Editor, QSRWeb.com

Panera today announced a new “Food Policy Statement,” which includes a commitment to removing artificial additives from its menu within the next two years. Specifically, the company vows to offer a “clean” menu. In doing so, it will remove all artificial colors, sweeteners, flavors and preservatives.

Panera has already begun this process and says it's about half way through the removal of all artificial ingredients. For example, by replacing its deli-style roast beef with sirloin steak, the company was able to eliminate caramel color from its ingredient list.

Panera has also committed to baking its bread fresh every day from fresh dough made in its own facilities.

“In order to do this, we have our own network of trucks that delivers dough to our bakery cafes and one of the nation’s largest networks of professional bakers,” the company said.

Panera is also working on procedures that optimize its “fresh dough delivery system” to bring its fresh produce to stores faster compared to conventional food distribution.

With Panera’s news today, the “Food Babe” blog – which is run by Vani Hari and first exposed Subway’s “yoga mat” ingredient earlier this year – declared victory by writing this post on its Facebook page: “Huge ‪#‎FoodBabeArmy win! This blog post that almost a million people have seen and shared since I wrote it in April of 2012 can almost RIP (rest in peace). Panera announced this morning that they will be removing artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners and preservatives by 2016. Congrats! We are doing it.”

Panera's newly released Food Policy also includes a commitment to menu transparency and to having a “positive impact.”

Menu Transparency

Panera says it was the first national restaurant company to voluntarily disclose its caloric content on menu panels, and to disclose its Food Policy. It will continue to provide nutritional disclosure, allergen info and ingredient details on its website, in-store and through its mobile apps.

Positive impact

Finally, Panera today committed to purchasing livestock and poultry that have been “raised responsibly, which for us means having been fed vegetarian-based and customized diets without the use of antibiotics, and raised in reduced-stressed environments.” The company also vows to monitor suppliers and farmers to provide traceability, and to source from North American farmers “where we can.”

Other tenets of the food policy include:

Ensuring the brand’s fish is wild-caught using sustainable practices;
Working with experts, NGOs and suppliers to reduce its palm oil sourcing;
Adding recycling where possible. As of last spring, a recycling program was in place at 87 percent of company-owned stores; and
Continuing to invest in the Panera Cares Community Cafes, which allow consumers to pay what they can to eat.

Fitting a trend

CEO/Founder/Chairman Ron Shaich said in a news release that the Food Policy is consistent with Panera’s core values.

"Panera was founded on the belief that quick food could be quality food. We started by baking bread from fresh dough each day in our cafes. That commitment led to others -- like our early decision to remove artificial trans-fats, post calories on menu boards and invest in serving chicken raised without antibiotics. As we continue to make conscious choices about the food we source and serve, we realized it's also important to share what we've accomplished and where we're going,” he said.

The brand’s commitments fit a broader trend that is accelerating within the restaurant industry. The National Restaurant Association's "What's Hot" culinary forecast for 2014 was topped by locally-sourced ingredients, health/nutrition and sustainability, for example.

"Today's consumers are more interested than ever in what they eat and where their food comes from, and that is reflected in our menu trends research," said Hudson Riehle, SVP of the NRA's research and knowledge group.

During last month’s NRA Show in Chicago, David Moore, VP of Marketing at Smoothie King, said these trends are being driven by the abundance of information available to consumers.

“Guests have a new level of knowledge and recognize the ingredients. They want real food with real ingredients they can pronounce,” he said.

Other restaurant chains have made similar, albeit less comprehensive, efforts to fit these demands, including Chick-fil-A, which committed to serving only antibiotic-free chicken within the next five years. Even the oft-demonized McDonald’s has jumped on board, aiming for a sustainable beef supply by 2016.

But, although Panera’s policy is on trend, Chief Concept Officer Scott Davis said there remains a lot of work to be done.

"Panera is on a mission to help fix a broken food system. We have a long journey ahead, but we're working closely with the nutrition community, industry experts, farmers, suppliers and others to make a difference,” he said. "We believe simpler is better.”