Panera Bread Celebrates 10th Anniversary of Pink Ribbon Bagel® | Be The Boss

Panera Bread Celebrates 10th Anniversary of Pink Ribbon Bagel®

Date

Mar 11, 2013

ST. LOUIS, MO - Panera Bread is celebrating 10 years of fighting breast cancer by baking bagels. This October, the signature Pink Ribbon Bagel® will be sold at all of Panera's bakery-cafes, with a portion of proceeds from bagels sold going to a variety of breast cancer causes throughout the country. A staple each October in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, donations from the sale of the Pink Ribbon Bagel have raised more than $1 million for breast cancer charities. Panera Bread and its franchisees hope to make 2011 the largest year for donations ever.

?The Pink Ribbon Bagel is an iconic Panera offering that allows us to join forces with our customers to support the fight against breast cancer,? said Bill Moreton, Panera's CEO and President. ?Panera Bread is proud to work with the communities we serve to help raise money for such a worthy cause.?

Shaped in the form of the iconic pink ribbon, these bagels feature cherry chips, dried cherries and cranberries, vanilla, honey, and brown sugar, and are baked fresh early each morning by Panera's bakers at each bakery-cafe. For each bagel sold, a portion of proceeds will be donated to support breast cancer awareness and research. Nearly two million Pink Ribbon Bagels were sold in 2010.

This year, Panera Bread is making it even easier to help fight breast cancer locally with the Power of Pink Baker's Dozen. Throughout the month of October at participating bakery-cafes, one dollar from any baker's dozen of bagels sold will be donated to a local breast cancer organization.

From October 1 through October 31, 2011, individuals can further help the cause by visiting the Panera Bread Facebook page (www.facebook.com/panerabread) and clicking the ?Like? button for the Panera Bread Virtual Pink Ribbon Bagel. Each time the bagel is ?liked,? 10 cents (up to $25,000) will be donated to the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation and its mission to move breast cancer beyond a cure.

The Pink Ribbon Bagel concept began in 2001 when Sue Stees, franchise co-owner of 18 Panera Bread bakery-cafes and a breast cancer survivor, began searching for ways to help other women fighting the same disease. Her search led her to the kitchen where she developed the Pink Ribbon Bagel. She sold 27,000 bagels in her bakery-cafes that first year and was awarded the ?You Can Make a Difference Award? from Susan G. Komen for the Cure. To date, more than seven million Pink Ribbon Bagels have been sold.

?Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine this simple bagel concept would grow to where it is today, educating the community on breast cancer and inspiring those who are fighting this disease,? Stees said. ?I'm extremely blessed to have survived to see the Pink Ribbon Bagel make such an impact over the last 10 years.?

About Panera Bread
Panera Bread Company owns and franchises 1,493 bakery-cafes as of June 28, 2011 under the Panera Bread®, Saint Louis Bread Co.®, and Paradise Bakery & Café® names. We feature high quality, reasonably priced food in a warm, inviting, and comfortable environment. With our identity rooted in handcrafted, fresh-baked, artisan bread, we are committed to providing great tasting, quality food that people can trust. Nearly all of our bakery-cafes have a menu highlighted by antibiotic-free chicken, whole grain bread, and select organic and all natural ingredients, with zero grams of artificial trans fat per serving, which provide flavorful, wholesome offerings. Our menu includes a wide variety of year-round favorites complemented by new items introduced seasonally with the goal of creating new standards in everyday food choices. In neighborhoods across the United States and in Ontario, Canada, our customers enjoy our warm and welcoming environment featuring comfortable gathering areas, relaxing decor, and free internet access. Our bakery-cafes routinely donate bread and baked goods to community organizations in need. Additional information is available on our website, http://www.panerabread.com.

About the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation
The Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation, an accredited 501 (c) (3) public charity, was founded in 1983 to eradicate breast cancer and improve the quality of women's health through innovative research, education, and advocacy. While advances have been made in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer, it is the Foundation's mission to discover the causes of breast cancer and how to prevent its development. In 2008, the Dr. Susan Love research Foundation launched the innovative Army of Women campaign in order to recruit a much needed 1 million women to participate in preventative breast cancer research studies. For more information on the foundation, please visit www.dslrf.org.