Today, the company makes it clear that it is a baker of bread. Founder Ron Shaich has served at Panera's Chief Executive Officer for more than 25 years.

Panera currently has 1,264 bakery-cafes in 40 states and Canada, delivering what the company refers to as fresh, authentic artisan bread and cafe foods. The company's mission, "a loaf of bread in every arm" sounds more like a tagline. However, the company has succeeded in making its bread broadly available and claims that it freshly bakes more bread each day than any bakery-cafe concept in the country.

Caribou Coffee (http://www.cariboucoffee.com/)

Headquartered in Minneapolis, MN, Caribou Coffee was founded in 1992. It now has up to 500 company-owned locations in 16 states, the District of Columbia and several international locations. Like most coffee shops, it offers bakery items in addition to beverages, but its emphasis is squarely on its quality coffee.

The company...
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