Panera Retires Pay-What-You-Can Meals at St. Louis Cafes

Panera Bread announced this week that it will table its most recent venture in the pay-what-you-can model– a Turkey Chili in a Bread Bowl meal offered at all of its 48 St. Louis-area locations.   Guests at those locations were asked to pay what they could afford for the meal, which has a suggested retail price of $5.89, including tax.

Panera introduced the meal as a way to help the needy in the area, with those who can afford to pay above the retail price subsidizing the cost for those who could afford less.  While the program initially raised awareness for food insecurity and brought in revenues above the suggested retail price due, which Panera founder and chairman Ron Shaich credits to in-store marketing and educational campaigns, the program’s effectiveness began to dwindle, with payments dropping off and awareness dropping.

Shaich said Panera plans to bring back the program next winter in a reworked format in select markets as a seasonal program.  The nonprofit Panera Cares cafes, which operate on a completely pay-what-you-can-model and offer job training programs, will continue to operate as-is.

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