Bread bowls with soup from Panera

What To Know Before Ordering Up Panera Bread Soup

NEWS

By SHAWNA SCHOFIELD

Exterior of a Panera Bread restaurant
A TikTok video from 2021 by @ohana_trender showed that Panera's soup comes in frozen packets, which came to a surprise to those who believed the soup was made in-house.
Bowl of soup with half a sandwich and a bag of chips
According to a Panera employee on Reddit, Panera's soups are made off-site in a factory and transported to the restaurants while frozen in pre-portioned packets.
Exterior of a Panera Bread restaurant
These are then warmed in a rethermalizer, which uses hot water to heat and cook products evenly. Many other fast casual restaurants use the same method.
Packaged Panera Bread soup in a grocery store
Panera Bread spokesperson Jessica Hesselschwerdt told USA Today that the reason for using frozen products was to keep them fresh without the need for additional preservatives.
Two bowls of Panera Bread soup
This method also allows for consistency across locations, efficiency, and offers more convenience while being more cost-effective for restaurants.