How Panera Bread Fights World Poverty
Panera Bread is known for its superb soups, salads and bakery items that might feed our appetites quite often. But Panera Bread has another, lesser-known side to their business. As one of the United States’ and Canada’s biggest food companies, Panera Bread also works to serve the less fortunate around the world.
The company previously enacted a ‘pay what you like’ method of paying to help those unable to pay the full price for food to have something to eat. The ‘pay what you like’ method allowed diners to pay more or less than $5.89 for their chili.
The purpose of this program was to encourage their customers to use what they were not paying to donate to charities and to provide food to those unable to pay. The method is still being used in locations such as Chicago, Illinois and Portland, Oregon. Other restaurants that have stopped using it are currently searching for new ways to support those suffering from hunger.
Another way Panera Bread gives back is through their Panera Cares Community Cafes. In the United States, 17 million homes are considered food insecure and 16 million children, meaning one in five children, do not have the means to receive proper nutrition every day. In these nonprofits locations, Panera Bread is willing to serve anyone for free. The aim of this project is to end hunger throughout the country.
In 2013, Panera Bread’s CEO demonstrated a style of living to promote hunger awareness. For one month, Ron Shaich collaborated with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to enact a lifestyle to live on $4.50 a day to create awareness for those in need, even though he normally makes roughly 3 million a year.
To put this into perspective, $4.50 is the average cost of a McDonald’s Mighty Kids Meal. Ron Shaich noted that although he was buying foods to keep him full, he continuously missed out on the healthy foods that matter, like meat, vegetables and fruits. He also stated how eye-opening of an experience it was for him and how impactful it will be on his efforts of putting an end to hunger.
Panera Bread continues to help fight poverty by continuing to give back to their communities through programs like the Day-End Dough-Nation and In-Kind Donations, which provide unsold bakery items to hunger relief agencies. Panera Cares operates in multiple cities throughout the US and is continuously creating innovative ideas to end world hunger.
– Julia Hettiger
