Dive Brief:
- Panera Bread has launched a Mix & Match value menu that allows guests to combine 10 items for $4.99 each, the company said in a press release Wednesday.
- The menu offers half- and cup-sized portions of 10 soups, salads and sandwiches, as well as rotating seasonal items. Guests also receive a baguette, chips or apple as a side.
- Panera’s new value menu is part of the chain’s RISE initiative, which focuses on menu refreshes, improving its value proposition and hospitality and resuming the growth of its system. The chain said last year that it plans to reach $7 billion in systemwide sales by 2028.
Dive Insight:
With its latest menu offer, Panera is bucking a trend in the fast casual segment where many chains — like Cava — refrain from value offerings as discounting could impact brand positioning. Instead, brands like Sweetgreen are increasing portions or emphasizing other aspects of their food to improve their value propositions.
This isn’t the first time Panera has released a value-focused menu. In 2023, the chain added Value Duets, offering a half sandwich or salad with a cup of soup. Those options ranged in price from $6.99 to $8.99. The Value Duets appear to have been supplanted by the Mix & Match menu; Restaurant Dive found that Panera removed the Value Duets from its online menu at some point in recent weeks. The company confirmed that Value Duets are no longer active and that they were a separate program from its Mix & Match menu.
In 2024, the chain overhauled its menu, but received significant backlash from consumers, especially as many favorites were removed. The company has since been focusing on more targeted menu innovation. Panera began testing four premium beverages last October in 65 restaurants, for example. In January, it brought back Asiago Bagel Stacks with Chicken Roma and Spicy Steak Asiago Bagel Stacks joining its permanent menu. Those sandwiches cost $7.99, depending on the market. It also introduced Breakfast Bagel Stacks for a limited time.
