After helping other chains rid their menus of additives for free, Panera Bread Co. intends to turn that counseling role into a business. The fast-casual leader told news media this week that it intends to offer its advisory services to other restaurant operations through a new venture, Panera Clean Consultant.
“We want to help industry peers devise strategies that prioritize clean across their whole menu, rather than focusing on a single ingredient or product,” Sara Burnett, Panera’s director of wellness and food policy, told the Reuters news service.
Panera did not respond to repeated requests for details about the venture, including when it would be launched.
The chain has said since it started ridding its menu of artificial colors and additives in 2014 that it was sharing what it learned about the cleanup effort with other operations. Executives noted at the time that a movement by the industry would help all proponents by sensitizing consumers to which brands offer “clean” menus. They also noted that the increased demand on suppliers would spur more vendors to rid their products of additives, broadening availability while ideally driving down costs.
In 2015, Panera published a list of 150 artificial ingredients that would be removed from its products. A year ago, the brand said it had achieved that goal and declared its menu “100% clean.”
A number of other chains have similarly removed additives from their foods, from Chick-fil-A to Jason’s Deli and Fazoli’s.
Panera has not revealed which operations it has assisted in similar efforts.
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