Without any doubt, the level of competition in the food service industry is high. Ron Shaich, the chairman and CEO of Panera Bread on the territory of the United States and Canada, in his interview with Business Week Journal claimed that the point that Panera Bread has always oriented it operations on the long-term helped the company to overcome competition throughout the recession, which significantly increased the revenues and margins. In a current competitive environment, it is crucial to possess the competitive advantage. Shaich says that the launch of MyPanera (special application for customers that helps Panera to get to learn customers’ preferences) made a significant contribution to the operation of the company. With this system, when almost 50% of the customers are making their transactions with the member cards, it became easier to trace customers’ preferences identify their needs (Brustein, 2013). In such a way, Panera Bread has an opportunity of offering various options to various people, and is constantly working on the improvement and enrichment of its assortment.
New location of Panera Bread in London, England, will work based on the campaign of the ‘mother’ company and it will actively implement all the practices and principles that Panera is employing in its current locations. Fast-food service industry is an industry with high competition and there are existing competitors on the territory of London that will represent a significant threat for a new Panera’s location. As far as Panera Bread is competing with mostly fast-foods meals, and with immediate-service restaurant retailers, its closest competitors are McDonalds and Starbucks represent the major competitors of the company, and those competitors have a world popularity and have numerous locations in England (Frechette, 2013).
In such a way, it is crucial for a new Panera’s location to maintain strong competitive advantage and to position itself as a leader in the sector of bakery-cafés. The history of the whole corporation makes clear the fact that Panera managed to establish a strong position in the conditions of high competitiveness in the fast-food service industry. Panera is a representative of a niche market. The company manages to keep the growth rates high for a long time and it continues to maintain its popularity up to the moment. Panera puts an emphasis on the customers’ experience, and this orientation helped the company to form strong relationships of integrity and loyalty with its customers. Careful implementation of this approach in a new location will contribute to the strengthening of the position of Panera in London.
The next point in the business plan for a new location of Panera Bread in London, England, is the description of the management team. Panera Bread, as a large company with quite a long history has an established management team. Panera Bread Company is implementing its activities as a member of limited liability company, Panera LLC. Panera Bread is a corporation and once it chose the option of going public, IPO (initial public offering). Therefore, it can issue stock to shareholders. The company is operating as the three business segments: bakery-café operations, fresh dough and other products operations, and franchise-owned operations. The venues of Panera Bread are located in various areas, both urban and suburban territories (Long). Consequently, we can make a conclusion that a new location in London will represent franchise-owned operations of Panera Bread as a member of LLC.
The official website of Panera Bread provides information about its corporate culture. The focus of Panera Bread is on people and their experiences. The main feature of Panera’s corporate culture is maintaining good relationships with employees, because employees are the ones who create the experience of Panera. The company constantly tries to make sure that all the associates have a good training, and it insures that all the employees get the appropriate attitude, with no discrimination or any violations. Panera Bread cares about is employees and about its customers. Moreover, Panera Bread cares about the community and wants to improve the life of every individual by providing special offers and programs and by launching MyPanera project that helps to meet customers’ needs and preferences more closely. Moreover, Panera cares about the health and well-being of its employees and associates, and therefore, provides full social packages to its workers. The compensation of Panera employees is quite competitive and the company offers its workers various benefits that include life insurance, disability program, employee discount program, medical, dental and vision insurance, retirement plan, and incentive programs (Panerabread.com). In such a way, new location of Panera Bread in London will work under the same company’s culture priorities and will do its best to create a strong working team.
References
Brustein, J. (2013, October 03). Panera Bread CEO Ron Shaich on Restaurant Industry Competitiveness. Retrieved February 09, 2016, from http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-10-03/panera-bread-ceo-ron-shaich-on-restaurant-industry-competitiveness
Frechette, J. (2013, February 26). Panera. Retrieved February 09, 2016, from http://www.slideshare.net/jefffrechette/panera-16785260
Long, N. (n.d.). Organizational Structure of Panera Bread. Retrieved February 09, 2016, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/organizational-structure-panera-bread-10391.html
Panera Bread Company 2014 Annual Report to Stockholders. (2015, April 16). Retrieved February 9, 2016, from https://www.panerabread.com/content/dam/panerabread/documents/financial/2015/2014-annual-report.pdf
