Panera lost diners by cutting portions and staff. It’s reversing course to win them backhttps://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/18/panera-bread-turnaround-plan.htmlWhen Panera Bread began shrinking its sandwiches and skimping on salads, it started shedding customers.
Now, to win them back, the chain plans to reinvest in the business and undo many of those same cost-cutting measures, it said Tuesday.
Once the No. 1 fast-casual brand in the U.S., Panera has dipped to No. 3, ceding the top spots to Chipotle Mexican Grill and Panda Express. Last year, its sales fell 5% to $6.1 billion, according to Technomic estimates. For years, the chain’s traffic has been shrinking, according to CEO Paul Carbone, who took the reins earlier this year. Controversy after the chain’s foray into energy drinks didn’t help matters, either.
Panera’s troubles have coincided with a tough year for fast-casual restaurants. Chipotle, Sweetgreen and Cava have all cut their full-year forecasts as they see younger consumers eating out less frequently.
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But it wasn’t just salads that were affected by the cost-cutting measures.
“In some instances, we shrunk portions, so guests would walk into our cafe to buy a sandwich that has gone up significantly in price, with lower-quality ingredients, in a smaller size,” Carbone said.
We used to go to Panera every month or so, but with their smaller portions, lesser quality, combined with higher prices drove us elsewhere. The thing about customers being driven away is that in the following months or years they formed different habits. At least some former customers won't come back.
