Cassie Doubek
Strawberry Salad Season
As we transition into spring and warmer weather, we look forward to beach days, bonfires, and festivals. And for Panera customers, the summer season usually means one thing -- the return of the strawberry poppyseed salad. The strawberry salad, debuted in the summer of 2001, continues to be a top-selling item year after year. By rotating the strawberry salad on a seasonal basis, Panera ensures that it offers its customers the best possible version of the salad with in-season fruits while also building up anticipation that increases demand for the salad and thus the rate of return for the corporation. 
With an emphasis on speed of service, Panera can be classified as a fast food restaurant. However, by constantly updating their menu to offer its customer unique, seasonal items, it differentiates itself from its typical fast food competitors. Every summer old favorites like the lemon drop cookie, frozen lemonade, and summer corn chowder return to replace fall items. While some customers may be disappointed when their favorite fall sandwich, salad, or pastry has been removed from the menu, most of these changes are not permanent and allow the customer to have something to look forward to in the coming months.
Despite slightly increased menu prices, Panera continues see annual increases in sales/revenue, with profits reaching $2.8 billion in 2015, as shown in the graph below. 
These increases can largely be attributed to its unique, seasonal items like the strawberry salad and Panera’s increased emphasis on healthy and clean food. The “Clean Food Movement” was announced publicly in 2016 by CEO, Ron Shaich, who defined the goal of this movement as “the removal of all artificial flavors, preservatives, sweeteners, and colors.” This includes in all salad dressings and bakery items. The summer of 2017 marks the first year of the “clean” strawberry salad with its altered, poppyseed dressing. Check out the video link below for more information about this movement directly from the Panera food team.
By the end of 2016, Panera officially met this goal giving the company yet another advantage over its competitors. For many customers, the benefit of fresh and healthy food outweighs the higher cost of higher prices.
Works Cited
Bruno, Giovanni. "Panera's 100% clean food initiative isn't a gimmick, CEO Shaich says." TheStreet. TheStreet, 02 Feb. 2017. Web. 19 Mar. 2017.
"Its Salad Time." Its Salad Time. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.
"Panera Bread Co. Cl A." MarketWatch. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.
"What Does “Eating Clean” Mean?" What Does “Eating Clean” Mean? N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2017.
I myself consider Panera a fast food restaurant because of its drive through. Despite this, I still see the food served at Panera as still healthier than basically all other fast food restaurants because of its use of more nutritious menu choices. This causes me to visit Panera more than other fast food restaurants such as McDonald's. I'm guessing I'm not the only person that thinks this which allow it to meet its goals and generate large amounts of revenues.
ReplyDeleteI myself find Panera as a unique fast food restaurant as it has a drive through and gets the orders out quite quickly. However, they are unique in the fact that they use much more nutritious and healthier foods. Knowing that the food is healthier without lacking time, the opportunity cost isn't affected as heavily for consumers which brings in more customers and increases revenue for panera.
ReplyDeleteDespite Panera’s increase in prices, many people still believe the opportunity cost of dining at this restaurant is worth it. It’s one of the few restaurants that is still considered fast food, but has its main emphasis on health and quality of food instead of low prices. Panera’s food quality helps prove how you get what you pay for as it provides consumers with higher quality food for a higher price. Considering how fast they serve the food, it is still an easy option when people are in a rush, which is typically when people buy fast food, so the higher prices have less of an effect on the consumer's’ choices.
ReplyDeleteThe strawberry poppyseed salad is something I personally look forward to each year because of how delicious it really is. While the wait is hard, as aforementioned, it increases demand. Many companies do this with certain food items; McDonald's is doing this right now with the Shamrock Shake. It creates a reminder of the restaurant and changes things up to bring back previous or new customers to generate more revenue.
ReplyDeletePanera is one of the many restaurant companies who entered this industry over the few decades. Over this time the fast food industry has transitioned from a monopoly/oligopoly to more perfectly competitive. Businesses like Panera have developed a strong brand name that resonates in the mind of the consumers. This has allowed them to be successful over the past few years. The ‘Clean Food Movement’ that Panera is doing provides people an incentive to come to Panera and to send a little more on a salad or sandwich from Panera. This is similar to what McDonalds does with Shamrock Shakes every March. They meet the needs of the consumer by bringing back their popular seasonal items each year. Revenues spike, and these restaurants see great profit during this time of year.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting topic for a blog post and I also enjoyed reading your post. I personally love Panera and have not been able to find someone yet that doesn't like their food. They are technically a fast food restaurant and you get your food fairly quickly but I love that their food is healthy. It's one of the only fast food restaurants that I can trust will have healthy food, especially now that they launched their "Clean Food Movement." I have not tried the Strawberry Salad yet so I should definitely do that this spring. I also agree with your comment on how the anticipation of the Strawberry Salad builds up and people have to go to Panera during spring to get it since it's the only time they will have it.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting topic and one that I never would have thought deeply enough to realize the effects. This is a smart tactic used by many companies around the world in order to increase the demand for a specific dish to increase revenue. This is similar to what McDonald's does with its Shamrock Shakes. The longer the customer waits, the more they are going to want that certain food and in this case it is the Strawberry Salad.
ReplyDeleteThis is always an interesting topic to see what seasonal foods do. The Shamrock Shake is one of the most famous seasonal foods, where people talk about it all the time. It's interesting however, that Culvers has the same shake all year long, but no one talks about it. By making something seasonal people are much more enticed to go out and buy it before it runs out.
ReplyDeleteAs the winter came to an end, everyone wants to get fit for the summer, which means they start eating healthy food, and Panera would be the right place for all those consumers. Fresh salads like strawberry poppyseed salad attract customers no matter how much it costs because their food is always considered to be healthy and homemade.The reason Panera is getting continuous increase in sales/revenue because of their distinct menu, they don't have the standard food all the time, they pick people's interest and change their menus in a way that customers will be willing to pay for these unique foods. In fact, some might argue on why one should spend $8 on a bowl of salad, but if we look at it practically, it is much cheaper than what we make at our house because the opportunity cost of buying each individual item is much higher than what we pay at the restaurant. Therefore, it is worth of spending $8 on a salad which contains many healthy options.
ReplyDeleteUnlike most fast food companies, Panera has become more successful because of the options they offer. Many people consider Panera a healthier choice (healthier being a relative term) amongst other chain restaurants such as Taco Bell or McDonalds as well. The addition of using seasonal fruit or vegetable boosts the idea they are a healthy choice. This clean movement brings in more customers and coming from a well known brand, the company is able to make a lot more in terms of their profits. However, there is a chance that some customers may sway towards different fast food places because of Panera’s raising costs. Although this amount may not make a big impact, it is still possible because fresh always costs more. This is seen through organic foods and vegetables in grocery stores. It would be interesting to see if other fast food restaurants, that aren’t considered healthy, would result in similar outcomes if they begun a clean movement within their branches. However, I think it would not be as large as Panera’s since they had a head start as they were seen as a better alternative in the first place.
ReplyDeleteI think it's such a good marketing strategy for restaurants to have limited time food offers; like you expressed in your blog post, customers build up anticipation for the time of year that they can have a certain food item that is only sold during a certain season. This kind of excitement definitely increases the demand and builds a security that customers will return for this seasonal food. Having this kind of security can keep companies in business longer. Another thing that makes Panera unique is that they not only have this salad during a certain season for the seasonal marketing benefit, but also for the benefit of the food; choosing to have a salad during the season that the fruits in the dish are the best for consuming adds to the fresh taste of Panera's food and increases the satisfaction of their customers. Having these seasonal salads will always be in favor of Panera and their business, and is a good business model for other restaurants to follow.
ReplyDeleteI think that Panera is clever to offer so many items on a seasonal basis. Similar to the Shamrock Shake at McDonalds or the Pumpkin Spice latte at Starbucks, offering items seasonally creates buzz for the products increasing the demand, as well as increases the opportunity cost for consumers since they can't get it year round. It is no shock that they have such good sales.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a good idea for Panera. Especially for a restaurant like Panera which is more of a healthier place. They have salads, soups and smoothies all of these they could implement a fresh seasonal ingredient or add a variation during the seasons. This would bring in more customers well expanding their menu.
ReplyDeletePersonally I look forward to Panera's strawberry poppyseed salad every year because it's healthy and not your typical fast food. Panera is a restaurant that really stands out because as mentioned in the blog, "Panera has increased emphasis on healthy and clean food." This differs from all other fast food restaurants that don't sell the healthiest/clean foods. In addition II think for all businesses in general that seasonal menu items are a great idea. This is a smart business plan that allows business to drive up their revenue. Most seasonal items have a high demand because they are only offered for a limited time. Overall Panera has grown so much in popularity simply because they provide healthy fast food, and they provided many popular seasonal food items.
ReplyDeleteNever had this panera strawberry salad before. It seems like it would be good. I never knew that this item was panera's best selling salad in the summer and year round. Maybe is this salad is perhaps " the " salad other companies like McDonald's can compete with panera for having this title.
ReplyDeleteWhile customers are typically upset when the menu changes at Panera, I think it’s one of the best decisions the company could make. Not only does it build anticipation for upcoming product releases, but when a customer’s favorite sandwich leaves the menu, they will try other options and then find themselves addicted coming to Panera even more to try a wide variety of their favorite foods. It’s clear that Panera’s summer items are yielding profit, as other restaurant chains are beginning to mimic Panera’s summer menu.
ReplyDeletePanera is a well known company with a wide variety of meals to choose from. I think changing the menu every once in awhile gives customers an opportunity to make a change and allows room for Panera to make even more profit. This is a great marketing strategy since many people are looking towards spring and summer and opening up strawberry salads, smoothies, and other seasonal foods will attract customers and help Panera's profit.
ReplyDelete