• Select one of the Fast-Casual restaurant competitors to Panera Bread. Compare the two companies utilizing competitive analysis principles …show more content…
C-142-143). Panera was particularly pleased with the benefits seen by the Panera 2.0 initiative, with participating locations experiencing sales growth and fewer customer service related issues (Thompson, 2016 pp. C-153). In his 2017 analysis, Bowman reports that Chipotle has struggled to recover from its food poisoning scandal. A variety of marketing initiatives had not shown effective results, and recovery is expected to take some time.
While a smaller company, Panera holds an advantage over Chipotle in many areas, including service hours, menu selection, and catering (Thompson, 2016). However, Chipotle's $4.5 billion in revenue (2015) also dwarfs Panera's $2.7 billion from the same year (Thompson, 2016). Ultimately, Panera seems to be in a better position as it can focus its strategic initiatives on growing the company, while Chipotle must focus its efforts on recovering from its food poisoning outbreak and the associated negative publicity.
• Does Panera Bread’s Pay-What-You-Want bakery-café concept constitute an adequate demonstration of Panera’s stance on social responsibility? Explain your