American food industry underwent a substantial transformation from high-fat meals to organic food and healthy options in the menus of fast-food restaurants. Panera Bread is one such company that strives to deliver fresh bakery, salads, pasta, and sandwiches to its clients. It started as a small bread firm in Saint Lois, Missouri, in 1987 and has grown into a large chain of 2000 bakery cafes across the U.S. and Canada (Panera Bread, 2020). As presented in the video, this organization has an opportunity for growth. Even though it is a fast-food café, it falls into the general trend towards a healthy lifestyle that became popular among Americans (Dettling, 2014). Panera Bread possesses two main strengths that make it unique in this industry. First, its food is organic, does not contain additives, and is produced by real people. Second, the company’s sit-down restaurant offers its customers free wi-fi and an opportunity to enjoy food. This firm earned consumers’ trust, which is an opportunity to recruit more clients. Overall, the essential components of Panera’s value chain are food of exceptional quality and human interaction with clients and employees.
Any for-profit organization should consider its weaknesses and threats on the market to improve and prevent failure, and Panera Bread is no exception. One of its main weaknesses is that bread and bakery are the primary brands of Panera, and these products are simple carbs that are not healthy for people (Dettling, 2014). Another weakness is that the company opened multiple restaurants only in North America, losing the international market to its competitors. The primary threat is competition from new rivals that quickly enter this market. Moreover, the modern high-protein and low-carbohydrate diets may affect Panera’s sales (Dettling, 2014). The company admits that its clients started to purchase less bread and sandwiches, but the restaurant offers other healthy meals like soup and salads that are still popular.
Despite many players on the market, Panera Bread has one competency that is hard to duplicate. Panera is distinct in its approach to the food system since this company is closely associated with local communities, providing food with no preservatives and chemicals that may cause unhealthy addiction (Dettling, 2014). Even if the rivals decide to involve in a similar practice, Panera seems to be the pioneer. This activity makes Panera Bread unique and gives it a competitive edge because it means that the firm cares about Americans’ health by offering clients fresh products every day.
The two external forces affecting Panera Bread and Whole Foods are the COVID-19 crisis and the economic recession. The pandemic challenged Panera’s eating culture that they were trying to promote. Still, this company could pivot its business and maintain sales through the takeaway option (Panera Bread, 2020). Similarly, Whole Foods, which was recently merged with Amazon, handled this restriction through online purchases (Gelles, 2020). Another challenge is the economic crisis caused by the pandemic that resulted in unemployment, making thousands of Americans unable to buy organic food, which is usually more expensive. Whole Foods did not change its prices significantly; thus, it is still unavailable to some people (Gelles, 2020). On the other hand, Panera could reduce its costs, making its products affordable for many (Panera Bread, 2020). Moreover, Panera Bread donates its unsold bread and dough at the end of each day to charity organizations to relieve food insecurity and hunger in the community (Panera Bread, 2020). This activity differentiates the company from its rivals, showing that Panera cares about social issues.
References
Dettling, R. (2014). Management CH04. Planning and strategic management Panera Bread Co [Video]. YouTube. Web.
Gelles, D. (2020). Whole Foods founder: ‘The whole world is getting fat.’The New York Times. Web.
Panera Bread. (2020). Love what’s good: 2020 responsibility report. Web.