Panera SWOT Essay

A SWOT Analysis is a situational in which internal strengths and weaknesses of an organization, and orthogonal opportunities and threats faced by it are closely examined to provide an adequate scheme (http//www.businessdictionary.com/definition/SWOT-analysis.html). Panera put on keep guild has become one of the leading companies in the alert casual restaurant market. StrengthsThe Strengths that Panera scratch line follow has are the followers a well-knit presence in its niche segment, a strong kindred with their franchisees, they focus on having a specialty bread and beefy financial performance. In 2008, the play along bringd in 1,252 bakery-cafes in 38 American States and Canada. Panera Bread communitys success relies on the strategy of quick good and superior quality food. According to Wall Street Journal, Panera scored the highest with client loyalty in their market niche. In 2007, Sandleman & Associates Quick-Track Awards of Excellence, put Panera Bread Company as one of the top chain restaurants for the sixth consecutive year. They get hold of a very strong brand image, which also contributes to their success. Panera Bread Company has a strong relationship with their franchisees.It expects to operate 256 additional franchisees or scene of action developers from their 725 franchise-operated bakery-cafes. Panera primarily operates through franchise agreements throughout the United States and this substantiative relationship that headquarters has with these companies has led to their success. This aids the branch of the connection. The connection has a high focus on being a specialty bread store. Panera Bread Company produces Artisan breads. Artisan bread utilizes natural ingredients with skilled attention, which differentiates the guild from commercial competition. This helps the company become secure in its segment of the market. Panera Bread Company has had robust financial performance. Its revenues increased by 21.8% from 2007 to 2008. The companies net profit increased by 17.4% from 2007 to 2008. This continued growth provides the company with a positive future. The company also purchased 51% of the outstanding stock of Paradise. WeaknessesPanera Bread Company has highly concentrated geographic operations, meaning the company is confined to direct in North America. This is a problem because if a change in state taxes could bring a risk to the market concentration. It also loses the opportunities that their competitors leave behind set about to establish themselves in foreign markets. The company does not operate in the Asia-Pacific region or Europe-Africa, which could be potential areas they could benefit from. other weakness that Panera Bread Company has is its lack of scale. When compared to its competitors, Panera Bread Company has a lot smaller revenues. Companies such as Starbucks or McDonalds dwarf this company, in yearly revenues. Panera needs to expand to other regions to become a planetary co mpetitor. OpportunitiesThe three opportunities that Panera Bread Company has are the following controlling of direct cost, expansion to grow top line and growth demand for constituent(a) products. Panera decided to focus its menu primarily with breakfast and lunch. This is why the company removed the Crispani from its product line. The pizza like pastry was intended to earn a late afternoon to early evening consumer, but had bantam growth. The little growth was believed to be caused by the recession, which made the company have to focus its menu to two meals a day. The expansion of the company has created to a greater extent geographic presence for top line growth. Panera Bread Company heart-to-heart its first company in Toronto, Ontario in 2008. In that same year, the company opened 91 new bakeries. This will help give the company a better presence, but another region for expansion would be Europe and Asia. The growing demand for organic products is a huge chance for the comp any. The already natural ingredients in its Artisan bread make this an lento transition for the company. According to article created by Datamonitor titled Organic solid food in the United States, the company had a compound annual growth rate of 17.9%. This opportunity would reflect positively on product gross sales for the company. ThreatsPanera Bread Company has four major threats to its success. The first threat to the companys success is the highly competitive restaurant industry. The company has to fight in three different industries. Panera competes in the specialty food, quick service and casual dining retailers. It majorcompetition is Starbucks, McDonalds, Einstein Noah Restaurant Group, heap Sandwich Works and Yum Brands. This competition could impact Panera Bread Companys market share. The second threat to Panera Bread Company would be a disruption in the companys supply. The company provides fresh ice lolly to each location by temperature controlled vehicles. If ther e happens to be poor support conditions, labor difficulties, technical issues or damage to any vehicles in the fleet, therefore the company could have shortage problem.Depending on how long there is a problem in the fleet Panera Bread Company would see a decline in sales from those locations affected. The increasing popularity of vegetarian food is the third threat. At an average growth of 9% per year, this market is projected to reach $1,700 billion by 2010 ( http//search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=44704860&site=bsi-live). The increase of a preference of healthy, natural, and fat free food has created a very booming market. If Panera Bread Company does not adhere to this trend in the market, thence they could be left behind by its competitors. The increase in the borderline wage is the fourth threat to Panera Bread Company. The steady increase in minimum wage has increased labor costs, which have impacted the companys profit. Hopefully, the minimum wage rem ains at $7.25 because this is affecting overall administrative costs for the company.