ST. LOUIS – Panera Bread and Einstein Bros. Bagels have come together with Caribou Coffee to form Panera Brands, a new powerhouse platform in the fast-casual space. With nearly 4,000 locations and 110,000 employees across 10 countries, Panera Brands is one of the largest fast-casual companies in the world.
Niren Chaudhary, CEO of Panera Bread, has been appointed as the group CEO of Panera Brands and will continue to lead Panera Bread as an individual entity. José Alberto Dueñas, CEO of Einstein Bros. Bagels, and John Butcher, CEO of Caribou Coffee, will report into Chaudhary while continuing as CEOs of their respective companies.
The group noted that the combination of three iconic fast casual brands would be anchored in Panera Bread’s broad omnichannel retail network, robust food innovation pipeline and strong supply chain access. Panera Brands aims to position itself to turbocharge the growth of Caribou Coffee and Einstein Bros. alongside Panera Bread.
“Together as Panera Brands, we are united by our common values and shared belief that we can be force multipliers for good. We exist to provide exceptional experiences for our guests, and to positively impact our communities, the planet and our shareholders while unlocking the dreams of our teams,” said Niren Chaudhary, group CEO of Panera Brands and CEO, Panera Bread. “We believe Panera Bread, Caribou Coffee and Einstein Bros. Bagels together will leverage each company’s unique expertise and services to build an unrivaled fast casual platform with a tremendous runway for growth.”
Panera Bread has more than 2,100 bakery-cafes and prides itself as a pioneer in fast casual, prioritizing cleanliness, transparency, convenience and sustainable ingredients. The company rolled out several initiatives over the course of the pandemic to increase digital access for customers and launched new a new flatbread pizza product.
Both Einstein Bros., the market leader in bagels and bagel sandwiches, and Caribou Coffee debuted similar initiatives during 2020 and noted that they were optimistic about the new partnership alongside the company.
“At Einstein Bros. Bagels, our relentless focus on delivering the most crave-able breakfast experience for our guests allowed us to come out of the pandemic as a stronger, more nimble company,” said José Alberto Dueñas, CEO of Einstein Bros. Bagels. “I’m looking forward to seeing our powerful brand portfolio, executed with a simplified retail model and optimized for a great digital experience, continue to gain momentum.”
John Butcher, CEO of Caribou Coffee, echoed Dueñas’ sentiment.
“Our purpose at Caribou Coffee is to create day-making experiences that spark a chain reaction of good,” Butcher said. “The creation of Panera Brands enables us to work smarter together, and drive greater impact for our teams, guests and communities.”
