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Bryan Gibbs
Nicole Varty
Introduction to Composition ENG 1020 055
September 22nd, 2015
The Discourse Community of Panera Bread
Panera Bread is a distinctive American chain of bakery-cafes that take pride in providing
artificial-free, healthy food to their customers. With values on nutrition, the community of
trained associates that essentially run the environment follow precise, detailed standards to
ensure the satisfaction of visitors. In this essay, I will explore the pride Panera Bread takes not
only transparently, but from within, through their display posters, build cards, and food waste
logs. I argue that associates of Panera not only prepare food for their customers, but they also
ensure that they mimic an everyday oasis.
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From the first photograph, the fact that a solitary unprocessed ingredient is singled out
proves Panera’s focus on pure, natural products. Instead of presenting an actual menu item, such
as a Bacon Turkey Bravo, the poster displays a single ingredient, real roasted turkey.
Psychologically, this makes one think more of the miniscule details, rather than the big picture,
or the meal itself. The statements are listed not in sentence form, cutting proverbially through the
fat to get to the truth. The font size of the words are smaller than the meal itself, which possibly
is meant to say that the food is the most important object in the poster. Of course, there are a
couple slices of bread in the background to assure the reminder that the business is Panera Bread.
The word ‘real’ is underlined to show emphasis. In a way, it mocks mediocre fast food chains
such as McDonalds, who have been, in the past, ridiculed for their lack of real product. Some
customers will rejoice in the fact that no chickens are pumped with steroids and various other
drugs just to provide more meat. It matters, to some, that they lived happier lives before being
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slaughtered. We may attract health-conscious customers in search of a favorite new restaurant, or
a healthy dinner. Since Panera Bread puts itself on a pedestal to show that we are above and
beyond the scope of fast food, Panera’s food is raised properly and created cleaner. This
potentially justifies the higher prices to some customers. This makes one decide whether he or
she should choose a fast food restaurant for a cheaper price but get nasty food, or go to Panera
and get quality food for a higher price. The ponder-some question influences the slogan, ‘Our
food is real, and good for you.’
In the second photograph, a sign above the cashier wall, the lines stated indicate that we
are dedicated to trust and menu transparency. The poster is hung above a bagel wall, in the
direction of the cash registers for customers to conveniently read. The opening line resembles
almost a biblical connotation. We facilitate information on exactly what is in the food, the
ingredients, and even the calories. Instead of providing information on prices and various deals,
we make an outlier of trust. Trust is the key to any relationship and Panera wants one to trust that
the food is healthy, clean, and positive on one’s body and the food system. There are no secrets
to keep in what we make. Everything is available to learn upon request by any customer, whether
that be carbohydrates, lack of gluten, or any question one may think of. A customer can say that
Panera is an open book, because the facts are literally all in a book.
The third photograph exhibits Panera slogans that are cut and pasted all across the poster.
The text is in black and white, with no pictures, to ensure that whatever is stated is the number
one focus of the photograph. In the first sentence, the poster subtly mentions how the food is not
only healthy, but it is also raised healthily. The second paragraph mentions the keyword ‘family’.
When a family man wants to take his family out to dinner, will he think of Mcdonald’s, or will
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he think of Panera? The mention of this brings a personal family-oriented approach to what
Panera has to offer.
Furthermore in the third photograph, the poster mentions Panera’s flexibility in food
preparation. ‘Food should taste great and be made the way you like it, with this or without that.’
This means that the food is made to order, so if a customer does not like a certain ingredient, it
can simply be ex-communicated from the order. Customers love flexibility, and Panera loves to
capitalize on that.
In the final photograph, Panera mentions about joining us and enjoying the experience.
This statement creates a personal touch to our slogan. We want people to feel as if they are a part
of a community or a family. Instead of just mindlessly preparing food for strangers, we want
conversation and intimacy with our customers. This reiterates Panera and its associates’ strive for
a family environment and an everyday oasis. We want people to come here regularly, not just to
eat, but to enjoy themselves. Customers can interact in booths, do homework and various work
through the Wi-Fi system, or simply have a seat to stay in just to relax. Sometimes one needs a
place to study.
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With the standards in mind, Panera would not simply higher lethargic workers who treat
their customers poorly. Panera wants to provide friendly, jovial associates to interact with their
customers. Panera hires people who have a passion for healthy food and do not take shortcuts. To
ensure the establishment of an oasis, workers should display idiosyncrasies that make customers
want to come back. Not only will a customer look forward to the delicious food, but also to
seeing the person preparing it. This facilitates the exchange of names, to establish a more
personal connection between an associate and a customer.
Because the food industry is an ever-changing business, the stressing of quality food
indicates that Panera is not a stagnant company. Panera manages to adapt to changes in foods for
every season of the year and somehow still create artificial-free products. With this in mind, a
customer can know that Panera will offer more than just a new sandwich with an extra patty or
bacon. Customers enjoy trying new things for every season of the year, and this is a strategy to
keep them coming. Because of the dedication to clean foods, a customer’s trust will know that a
new product is not cheaply sewn together, but tested and ensured that it is also up to standards.
Through build cards (which are small posters generally displayed in an area of food
production to thoroughly list how to make a particular menu item) Panera advocates the exact
measurements of our items to facilitate not only the ease of preparation for production associates,
but to ensure customers are accurately satisfied. Every item is prepared with gloves, using
precise measurement tools and ingredient distribution. Panera’s goal is accuracy but also to
provide trust for customers that their orders will be correct and precise. Build cards are a great
training mechanism, so the faster an associate is trained, the faster orders can be sent out.
Because an associate is trained faster, less food will be put on the waste log when they make a
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mistake. Panera cares greatly about providing fast service nearly as much as they do about
accuracy.
As associates, we make sure that all food not served to customers is logged for reference.
We want to limit the waste of food so that, if possible, the food we save can be given to the poor.
Associates know that extra food at the end of the night is sent to stores called Panera Cares,
where anyone can get food for whatever price they can pay. Since such stores exist, I believe the
company of Panera does anything they can to help out. Instead of guaranteeing themselves more
profit, they run businesses for even lower income families to be fed. Panera’s rules of keeping a
waste log indicate that they closely follow the use of our products and monitor production.
Panera wants employees that can properly and honestly prepare food for their customers. This
implies that Panera does not just blindly waste money on various products. They have a budget
and keep a mindset that none of the food we have should be idly wasted. Keeping a waste log
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keeps a track on where food goes, if not to this customers. This ensures that theft is not a
common practice among hourly associates.
Following the standards that Panera’s environment exhibits, the members of the
community take pride in serving the healthiest and most accurate food possible. We display
posters with our promises and goals to ensure customers that we care about our food. The build
cards are used when preparing food in order to make sure every order is completely accurate. We
track waste logs to ensure that none of our products are being wasted and are used for better
purposes. Panera cares about much more than profit and sales. We are a community, a family,
and we want to ensure that every customer feels that they are in a home away from home.