Panera opens in Highlands

If nothing else, I give Panera bread kudos for their marketing strategy.

We ARE TALKING about them, and curiosity and "gotta see it for myself" is definitely in play.

well my twin brother was a supervisor with them for a year, so I'll ask him when he gets off vacation and we'll put the issue to rest lol. I remember the "Breaducation" notebooks he brought home but I never bothered to look inside them. I'm pretty sure if I asked him what his starter was though, he'd tell me about an appetizer.

When a friend who is a job applicant, and has been offered a job, and given a description of their daily tasksand has been in the kitchen, and is told they will proof and bake from a frozen product, tells me that is the way it done, then I believe them.

I am sick and tired of having to defend what I say here, some people just loooooove to argue.

Go into the damn shop and ask the manager to their face how their product is prepared BILL.

GEEZ

Heather

You can believe what you believe, but your friend who never worked a day at Panera states something that is directly opposed to what has been mentioned elsewhere, so I chose not to agree with you. I was raised to question what others hold out to b e "truth" when it flies in the face of other opinions or evidence. You may chose to believe what you friend says, just as I am entitled to have a different opinion based upon other data. That is one of the purposes of a DICUSSION forum such as this.

BTW, I called Panera HQ yesterday to alert them to this thread to see if they wanted to weigh in here and had a nice 10 or 15 minute discussion with one of their PR underlings. During the conversation he mentioned the dough was made at either 10 or 15 "commissaries" and shipped refrigerated to each store. He specifically mentioned it was NOT frozen. He also agreed that the website was misleading and would pass that along to the appropriate person..

My girlfriend works at Panera, I can just ask her.

[Robin Garr]

During the conversation he mentioned the dough was made at either 10 or 15 "commissaries" and shipped refrigerated to each store.

Which is what I said at the beginning of this discussion, based on my conversation with Panera officials when the first shop opened here in the late '90s.

He specifically mentioned it was NOT frozen. He also agreed that the website was misleading and would pass that along to the appropriate person..

Good response. It'll be interesting to see if the policy ever changes.

So the local Panera's get their bread dough from a commissary in Cincy. It's trucked down and put in a walk in fridge at each location refrigerated the entire time not frozen.

[Robin Garr]

So the local Panera's get their bread dough from a commissary in Cincy. It's trucked down and put in a walk in fridge at each location refrigerated the entire time not frozen.

Correctamundo, although at the time I reported on it (late '90s) the regional commissary was in St. Louis.

[ He also agreed that the website was misleading and would pass that along to the appropriate person..

That was what I was trying say earlier about the website. The website went as far as to say it was made from scratch, which goes far beyond the discussion here - if it was frozen or not. Just false advertising at its best/worst.

[Robin Garr]

That was what I was trying say earlier about the website. The website went as far as to say it was made from scratch, which goes far beyond the discussion here - if it was frozen or not. Just false advertising at its best/worst.

And, at the risk of repetition, what I said in the original post:

It also bugs me just a little that Panera brags about, and I quote, "its identity rooted in handcrafted, freshly-baked, artisan bread," without ever disclosing that this "freshly baked artisan" bread is made in mass quantities at central commissaries - ours is in St. Louis - and trucked out to the stores for final baking.

So what I can't figure out is, if they are just doing final baking on premade bread, why do they need bakers in their stores who work all night? I know they have them, because I've met the one who is/was at the St. Matthews location. Seems like they aren't really achieving much efficiency if they still have to operate the way wholly-onsite bakeries do.

They dont have bakers who work all night. They come in at 4 in the morning and pull out the dough to put in the oven.

Oh, ok. I thought the one I met told me his shift started at 11, but I guess I imagined that.

Feel better Bill?

If nothing else, I give Panera bread kudos for their marketing strategy.

We ARE TALKING about them, and curiosity and "gotta see it for myself" is definitely in play.

so given the possibility that there is information in a business' marketing that is/can be considered misleading, or in some cases an out and out lie, it should PRAISED as good?
also, consider the negative impact this has on smaller places who actually DO make things from scratch and do so IN HOUSE and have to deal with widespread skepticism (as well as a smaller profit margin because they don't have the purchasing power that corporate chains have to drive down their product costs but still have the need to break even /stay in business or, God forbid, even turn a profit)

like it or not, admit it or not... corporate marketing brainwashing WORKS.
if it didnt, noone in their right mind would buy a taco that is OPENLY ADVERTISED as 'we're not gonna tell you whats in it'. or 'handmade artisan' baked goods from a chain when there are plenty of very real and very good bakers found locally. or a great many others things.

too many people have succumbed to the lazy, convenient, cheap approach to feeding themselves and YOU HAD BETTER BELIEVE that corporate food product manufacturers have rubbed their hands together and muttered 'EXCELLENT' a la Mr Burns for years to create this giant herd of cattle we call 'consumer America'. and they count on people every day to NOT think about what or where or why theyre spending their money... just as long as they keep spending and not thinking

Feel better Bill?

Thanks for your concern about my well being.