Panera Bread Wants to Become a Grocerant Retailer

Building a retail food brand that garners the attention of consumers at the most common points of purchase will drive top-line growth and bottom-line profits while edifying brand value according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. If you’re building a grocerant brand you, are you building a brand for today, or tomorrow.  

It’s at the intersection of consumers never ending question; What’s for Dinner and Where to Get Dinner that they are looking for solutions according to Johnson. Panera Bread launched Panera Grocery Rewards—a national reward program that sits at the nexus of the company’s leading loyalty program, growing CPG business and in-café offerings and they clearly want to be that solution.

Here is how the program works; customers who spend $20 on Panera goods in the grocery store can scan their receipts to receive a $5 electronic gift card for use in café, and the program is slated to run through the fall.

The objective of the campaign is to create top-of-mind awareness of Panera’s grocery products, drive long term loyalty with Panera’s grocery products and encourage shoppers to visit the café.

Panera is one of the first in position to offer a program like this, with MyPanera leading the industry as the largest restaurant loyalty program with 52+ million members. Additionally, the company has steadily grown a robust lineup of packaged foods that spans over 10 categories – including refrigerated soup, refrigerated mac & cheese, refrigerated salad dressing, packaged coffee, artisan bread, refrigerated bowls and refrigerated flatbread pizza. Customers can shop a wide range of options at top retailers like Kroger, Publix, and Walmart among others.

Panera Grocery Rewards will be promoted across a fully-integrated campaign, including dedicated emails to MyPanera members, paid media across Meta’s platforms, in-grocery POP across the country and a national Planet Fitness partnership with awareness in over 2,500+ clubs.

Are you building a brand for yesterday, today, or tomorrow?

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete a Grocerant ScoreCard, or for product positioning or placement assistance, or call our Grocerant Guru®.  Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or 253-759-7869