Building a Better Breakfast

Among concepts presented by its vendor partners, Panera was drawn to a line of single-portion quichelike dishes baked in the chain’s existing cinnamon-roll muffin pans. Approximately two years of development, however, was enough time for most Atkins adherents to turn their backs on the diet. Prior to market testing, Panera experimented by pouring the egg mixture inside a pan lined with a square of laminated croissant dough—again, a component that was already part of operations—resulting in the Baked Egg Soufflé. Kish notes that including the laminated croissant square requires the unit-level skill of thawing, proofing and baking by trained personnel.

Panera menus four Baked Egg Soufflés: one featuring spinach, Romano cheese, red peppers and artichoke hearts, lightly flavored with garlic and a dash of Tabasco; a four-cheese variety sporting white Cheddar, Romano, Parmesan and Neufchâtel; another highlighting spinach, Cheddar and bacon and enlivened with Tabasco, garlic and lemon juice; and a variety with ground turkey sausage, diced potato, chopped bell pepper, aged Cheddar and Neufchâtel, garnished with strips of roasted Florina red pepper. Each soufflé rests in a 4½-in., metallic-coated paper tart dish, held on a warming tray in the bakery display area following batch cooking. A point-of-sale system tracks sales annually and helps each Panera unit estimate demand on any given day.

“One of the great challenges with this product is keeping it in stock,” admits Kish, noting the 25-minute turnaround time in production. “We always have to be anticipating the guest. You don’t want to throw product away or run out. So in the name of product quality, we will stick to batch-baking.”

BREAKFAST SANDWICHES ASCENDANT

Panera recently conducted its own study of breakfast patterns via a survey by Braun Research, Inc., Princeton, NJ, which revealed not only that 61% of Americans eat breakfast every day, but the majority will opt to cut their sleep short by 15 minutes to ensure that a good breakfast starts their day. Three quarters (75%) of respondents in the study said they purchase breakfast away from home on occasion, while a third (32%) does so at least once a week.

According to a Technomic study released in Jan. 2007, in addition to made-to-order smoothies and pancakes, sandwiches are a growing consumer favorite at breakfast. Since a similar study conducted two years prior, the percentage of consumers ordering breakfast sandwiches away from home during the week increased from 60% to 73%, and weekend breakfast-sandwich purchases grew from 55% to 60%. The survey also reported that convenience and portability play enormous roles at breakfast during the week, while on weekends, consumers seek quality food, variety and a welcoming restaurant atmosphere.