Building a Better Breakfast

Braun Research also found that 43% of Americans generally aren’t pleased with the flavor and quality of available breakfast sandwiches. More than a third said they do not want overly processed ingredients in a breakfast sandwich. Further, 83% of people prefer a fresh-cooked egg in a sandwich, and 75% claim they can distinguish a fresh-cooked egg from one that isn’t. Most people (90%) prefer that a breakfast sandwich be prepared fresh upon ordering, not merely rethermalized from frozen.

Enter Panera’s latest morning menu addition: grilled breakfast sandwiches.

Fulfilling customer demand for a hot, portable breakfast, on April 1, following a soft launch, the company officially introduced three grilled breakfast sandwiches at participating units nationwide. The sandwiches, each featuring an “all natural” freshly cracked egg (in-shell pasteurized) and Vermont white Cheddar with an option of a precooked “all natural” sausage patty or applewood-smoked bacon, are built within sliced, freshly baked ciabatta, then grill-pressed to order, all within a few minutes.

The $3.49 price point is higher than those of typical quick-service breakfast sandwiches (Panera is considered fast-casual), but the chain’s grilled breakfast sandwich, with its handmade look, is not your average breakfast sandwich.

“I live outside New York City, and every gas station and deli turns out breakfast sandwiches every day,” says Kish. “But when you get a good one, there’s a reason why it’s good versus the mediocre one or the one that costs $1.25 with a small cup of coffee.”

For the eggs on the sandwiches, Panera employs a combination of dry heat and moisture so the top of the egg is cooked via indirect steam and the bottom has contact with the griddle. The yolk is punctured once to cook through. White Cheddar from Vermont was tapped after an exhaustive appraisal of cheeses. The search for the perfect bacon led to a thick, applewood-smoked variety, which is now used with all menu items calling for bacon.

Perfecting the bread became the charge of Tom Gumpel, Panera’s vice president of bakery development and a certified master baker, who joined the company five years ago after leaving his post as associate dean for baking and pastry arts at The Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, NY. Panera had always offered fresh-baked ciabatta, but for its new line of breakfast sandwiches, Kish sought a more-traditional formula yielding a crisper crust and more-tender crumb. The resulting ciabatta is now also featured in the chain’s Italian Combo sandwich on the lunch menu, and will come into play with select future sandwiches.

“We go to great lengths and take great pains to stay ahead of the curve,” says Kish. “At a time when commodities are rising in costs, the conversations in our board room don’t surround cutting costs and labor, but rather how to continue to deliver an experience that will warrant the costs that we bear. Because once you start to cut, that’s a slippery slope, and customers aren’t stupid. The game will be over. The customer’s experience at Panera Bread builds our image more than anything else.”

Brent T. Frei owns Frei & Associates, a foodservice-marketing firm, in Schaumburg, IL. He is a former director of marketing for the American Culinary Federation, Inc.