Fast Casual Restaurant and Panera Bread Essay

Company Overview
Panera Bread café is a restaurant that operates in the United States and in Canada. In 1999, it was named Au Bon Pain and was then renamed to Panera Bread. Panera Bread has 1453 franchises in 40 different states in the U.S. Panera Bread is judged by a lot of different magazines such as the “Health” magazine, Zagat, and Businessweek where the reviews show that Panera Bread is one of the healthiest casual restaurants. Panera Bread offers food such as fresh baked breads, bagels, rolls, sandwiches, and muffins. Although Panera Bread is considered as a fast casual restaurant, it still offers its customers with higher quality products that consumers believe are worth the money they are paying. Panera seeks to offer its customers a great experience at its cafes, offering free internet and comfortable couches to sit on. As of 2011, Panera Bread Company owns 740 cafes in the U.S and in Ontario, Canada.

Analysis
Over the past 5 years, Panera Bread’s total revenues have been increasing as well as the gross profit of the company. Even during the recession in 2008-2009, the company’s total revenues have increased by 21.74% in 2008 and 4.16% in 2009. The strategy they have used during the recession is to not react to the recession and try as hard as possible to keep costs consistent with revenues in order to grow. Although Panera Bread is considered as a fast casual restaurant, it still offers its customers with higher quality products that consumers believe are worth the money they are paying.
As I have projected, I believe that this company’s total sales will grow by 15.96% in the year of 2016. Gross Profit will grow by the same margin where this company tries its best to offer high quality products and keep the cost of goods sold consistent with the higher revenues. However, in 2012, the cost of goods sold/revenue is predicted to decrease to 75.23%. Furthermore, the company has no debt. This makes investing in it more attractive where the probability of this company going bankrupt is really low. Additionally, shareholders equity is also predicted to increase because of the no debt and the amount of cash that this company has. In 2011, Panera Bread Company has posted its Cash and Cash Equivalents to be $222,640,000.

This chart shows the value of Panera Bread Company since it was found. Panera’s management has made this company gain over 130% since 2008. The reason why Panera was able to generate such high gains is that the company has been operating in more states in the U.S as well as more cafes in Ontario. This company’s total assets have increased and are predicted to increase by 4% in 2012. Because Panera Bread Company just operates in the U.S and Canada and has no long term debt to pay, it is a sign that this company has the potential to grow even more. The company’s mission statement “It’s All About Bread At Panera”, shows how the company is focused on providing its consumers with tasty bread. It also highlights the high quality sandwiches that those cafes have to offer for consumers.

Macroeconomic Overview

(Source: Nasdaq)
This chart compares Panera Bread Company to one of its competitors Chipotle. The green line represents Chipotle’s returns whereas the blue line represents Panera Bread Company’s returns. Although Chipotle’s Sales in 2011 are $2.16 billion compared to Panera’s sales that are $1.8 billion, Panera’s sales give the company a higher potential to grow

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