Consumer Trends

America's favorite bakery/cafe chains

Panera Bread remains a consumer favorite in its category as it continues to innovate its menu and ramp up convenience.
panera bakery
Photograph courtesy of Panera

Panera Bread remains a consumer favorite in its category as it continues to innovate its menu and ramp up convenience. The chain plans to add a new, plant-based menu item to every category by the end of 2021. And it has expanded the reach of its online ordering network, allowing customers who use a variety of third-party services to request delivery via a Panera employee.

Bakery/CafeService & HospitalityUnit Appearance & AmbianceFood & BeverageConvenience & TakeoutValueOverall Score
Panera Bread63.5%52.4%56.0%60.4%45.4%54.7%
Corner Bakery Cafe61.0%48.5%50.9%58.9%42.0%50.9%
Einstein Bros. Bagels61.7%46.0%49.4%58.0%41.4%49.7%

Source: Technomic Ignite consumer data; scores represent the percentage of respondents who strongly agree with the statements, on a scale of 1 to 5.

Learn more about America's Favorite Chains.

Members help make our journalism possible. Become a Restaurant Business member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.

Multimedia

Exclusive Content

Financing

How Popeyes changed the chicken business

How did a once-struggling, regional bone-in chicken chain overtake KFC, the formerly dominant player in the U.S. market? With a fixation on sandwiches and many more new restaurants.

Financing

Get ready for a summertime value war

The Bottom Line: With more customers opting to eat at home, rather than at restaurants, more fast-food chains will start pushing value this summer.

Food

Inside Chili's quest to craft a value-priced burger that could take on McDonald's

Behind the Menu: How the casual-dining chain smashes expectations with a winning combination of familiarity and price with its new Big Smasher burger.

Trending

More from our partners