Press Release
September 27, 2023
Panera Bread Partners with ezCater to Scale its Workplace Catering
ezCater, a category leader in food for work, and Panera, a market leader in fast casual, team up to offer businesses a seamless way to order Panera catering on ezcater.com
BOSTON – September 27, 2023 – ezCater, the most trusted provider of corporate food solutions, today announced a partnership with Panera Bread to bring the brand’s iconic soups, salads, sandwiches, and more to the ezCater marketplace. The partnership combines ezCater’s extensive reach and authority in food for work with Panera’s deep brand recognition, delicious and diverse menu, and influence as a market leader in fast casual.
Businesses can now order catering from nearly half of Panera’s bakery-cafes across the U.S. on the ezCater website and mobile app. In the coming months, Panera and ezCater intend to continue to add hundreds more locations to the ezCater marketplace as they continue to roll out the partnership.
“Not only is Panera a market leader in fast casual, but they’re also a powerhouse in catering and one of our customers’ most requested brands,” said Mike O’Hanlon, Chief Partnerships Officer, ezCater. “We’re bringing the comfort and warmth of Panera’s crave-worthy offerings and the convenience and reliability of ezCater to workplaces across the country. We’re excited to launch this partnership and continue expanding it in the months and years to come.”
From their beloved bagel packs and breakfast sandwiches to iconic soups, sandwiches, and delicious salads, Panera offers extensive options and variety for workplaces to satisfy all of their employees’ preferences. New catering offerings, such as the Toasted Baguette Sandwiches Assortment, deliver an abundant meal crafted with freshly prepared ingredients. With the new partnership, businesses can easily order food from Panera for all their food for work needs, while having complete visibility and control over their food spend through ezCater.
“As two of the most established providers of food for work, Panera is excited to partner with ezCater to provide workplaces with even more access to our delicious menu of soups, salads, sandwiches, and more,” said Lisa Hamblet, Vice President, Off-Premise, Panera Bread. “An ideal complement to Panera’s existing catering service, ezCater adds additional reach and scale to expand to more businesses and take Panera Catering to the next level.”
ezCater has more than 100,000 restaurants and caterers on its platform, from local independent restaurants to national chains. With its extensive expertise in corporate food solutions, ezCater helps its restaurant partners manage, analyze, and grow their catering businesses. To learn more about the ezCater Catering Growth Platform, visit www.ezcater.com/grow.
To place a catering order from Panera or learn more about ezCater Corporate Accounts, visit ezcater.com.
About ezCater
ezCater is the most trusted provider of corporate food solutions. With over 100,000 restaurants across the US on its platform, ezCater provides flexible and scalable food solutions for everything from recurring employee meals to one-off events such as sales calls and board meetings. ezCater is purpose-built for food for work and supported by best-in-class customer service, enabling companies to centralize and manage their food spend in a single, customizable platform. To explore corporate food solutions or place a catering order, visit www.ezcater.com.
About Panera Bread
Panera Bread opened in 1987 as a community bakery, founded with a secret sourdough starter and a belief that sharing great bread is an expression of warmth and generosity. That vision holds true today with a robust menu of delicious, chef-curated recipes created with a simple principle: The Familiar, Made Fantastic™. At Panera, we serve food that we are proud to serve our own families, made with responsibly raised proteins and freshly prepared with Clean ingredients–food that does not contain the artificial preservatives, sweeteners, flavors, and colors from artificial sources set forth on our No-No list (PDF) served in U.S. bakery-cafes. From crave-worthy soups, salads and sandwiches to flatbread pizza and sweets, we offer our guests more than great food. Our ethos of generosity drives us to meet our guests where they are through technology and through our shared values. We are stewards of our communities and the planet — with programs like Day-End Dough-Nation® that donates unsold baked goods in the evening to local non-profits, or labeling climate-friendly low carbon Cool Food Meals.
As of August 29, 2023 there were 2,131 bakery-cafes, company and franchise, in 48 states and in Ontario, Canada, operating under the Panera Bread® or Saint Louis Bread Co.® names. Panera Bread is part of Panera Brands, one of the largest fast casual restaurant companies in the U.S., comprised of Panera Bread®, Caribou Coffee® and Einstein Bros.® Bagels. For more information, visit panerabread.com or find us on Twitter (@panerabread), Facebook (facebook.com/panerabread) Instagram (@panerabread) or TikTok (@panerabread).
Media Contacts:
Jennie Hardin
ezCater
Sloane PR for Panera Bread