2017 Top 500: Bakery Cafe chains

panera bread tray

While the bakery café menu category saw its total sales increase by 4% to $7.3 billion and units by 1% to 3,499, performance among the individual brands varied widely. For example, la Madeleine and Le Pain Quotidien increased sales by 12% and 10%, respectively, at the same time Einstein Bros. Bagels, Corner Bakery and Au Bon Pain declined. Category heavyweight Panera Bread increased sales 6% and units 3%.

2017 Rank

Chain Name

2016 U.S. Sales ($000)

2016 U.S. Units

11Panera Bread/Saint Louis Bread Co.5,132,0002,017
97Einstein Bros. Bagels381,400*395*
99Corner Bakery Cafe375,830196
109Au Bon Pain351,781207
174Le Pain Quotidien200,300*92*
180Bruegger's Bagels196,500*260*
189La Madeleine Country French Cafe184,700*86*

*Technomic estimate; Source: Technomic's Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report

 

View the full Top 500 report

 

Members help make our journalism possible. Become a Restaurant Business member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.

Multimedia

Exclusive Content

Operations

Hitting resistance elsewhere, ghost kitchens and virtual concepts find a happy home in family dining

Reality Check: Old-guard chains are finding the alternative operations to be persistently effective side hustles.

Financing

The Tijuana Flats bankruptcy highlights the dangers of menu miscues

The Bottom Line: The fast-casual chain’s problems following new menu debuts in 2021 and 2022 show that adding new items isn’t always the right idea.

Financing

For Papa Johns, the CEO departure came at the wrong time

The Bottom Line: The pizza chain worked to convince franchisees to buy into a massive marketing shift. And then the brand’s CEO left.

Trending

More from our partners