Are Panera Bread Sandwiches Fresh Or Premade?

Panera Bread is widely loved for its menu offering healthier fast food items, from tasty soups to fresh salads and sandwiches. The popular bakery-café chain has made a name for itself as being one of the best options to get a quick, tasty bite that's not fried and greasy. For carb-loving customers, it's all about Panera's best sandwiches. On the more decadent end, there's the croque monsieur on croissant toast, Chicken Bacon Rancher, and ciabatta cheesesteak. If you're looking for a handheld with more veggies, there's the Toasted Garden Caprese and Chipotle Chicken Avo Melt. But are Panera sandwiches fresh or premade? While some of the bread comes in frozen, the sandwiches are fresh. 

When you order a sandwich from Panera, employees assemble them in-house, made-to-order — just like you would do yourself at home. They do not come frozen from a package, so you can customize them if you want. However, the company switched from baking fresh loaves on the premises to having par-baked bread shipped by a third-party supplier. Par-baked is exactly what it sounds like — it's when the bread is partially baked and then frozen before being sent to stores where they get popped in the oven to be finished.

Panera is currently in the process of shuttering all of its remaining fresh dough facilities (also known as FDFs). Up until recently, all of Panera's bread was baked daily in-store using fresh dough balls that were mixed and delivered by nearby FDFs. Once dropped off at a location, Panera's staff would proof and shape the various breads and bake every morning. 

Cafés running out of fresh bread throughout the day led to the company's decision to implement the use of par-baked frozen bread. Panera does claim to utilize artisan bread makers to ensure a high quality product, so just because it arrived at the store par-baked doesn't necessarily mean it doesn't taste great. Unfortunately, this change in business model does mean that many workers lost their jobs. Bread is not the only thing that isn't freshly made — when you order soup at Panera, it's simply heated by workers from a frozen packet; the same goes for its mac and cheese. Panera Bread is hardly the only chain to use these methods, though.