Panera Bread 2009 Annual Report Download - page 12

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distributors from which we and our franchisees must select. We leverage our size and scale to improve the quality of
our ingredients, effect better purchasing efficiency, and negotiate purchase agreements with most of our approved
suppliers to achieve cost reduction for both us and our customers.
For further information regarding our product supply, see Item 1A. Risk Factors.
MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Each of our Company-owned bakery-cafes have programmed point-of-sale registers which collect transaction
data used to generate pertinent information, including, among other things, transaction counts, product mix and
average check. All Company-owned bakery-cafe product prices are programmed into the point-of-sale registers
from our office headquarters. We allow franchisees access to certain of our proprietary bakery-cafe systems and
systems support. Franchisees are responsible for providing the appropriate menu prices, discount rates and tax rates
for system programming.
We use in-store enterprise application tools to assist in labor scheduling and food cost management, to provide
corporate and retail operations management quick access to retail data, to allow on-line ordering with distributors,
and to reduce managers’ administrative time. We use retail data to generate daily and weekly consolidated reports
regarding sales and other key metrics, as well as detailed profit and loss statements for our Company-owned bakery-
cafes. Additionally, we monitor the average check, transaction count, product mix, and other sales trends. We also
use this retail data in our “exception-based reporting” tools to safeguard our cash, protect our assets, and train our
associates. Our fresh dough facilities have information systems which accept electronic orders from our bakery-
cafes and monitor delivery of the ordered product back to our bakery-cafes. We also use proprietary on-line tools,
such as eLearning, to provide on-line training for our retail associates and on-line baking instructions for our bakers.
Most bakery-cafes also provide customers free Internet access through a managed WiFi network. As a result,
we host one of the largest free public WiFi networks in the country.
COMPETITION
We compete with numerous sources in our trade areas. Our bakery-cafes compete with specialty food, casual
dining and quick service cafes, bakeries, and restaurant retailers, including national, regional and locally-owned
cafes, bakeries, and restaurants. Our bakery-cafes compete in several segments of the restaurant business: breakfast,
AM “chill,” lunch, PM “chill,” dinner, take home and catering. Our competitive strengths include location,
environment, customer service, price and product quality. We compete for leased space in desirable locations. Some
of our competitors may have capital resources greater than ours. For further information regarding competition, see
Item 1A. Risk Factors.
EMPLOYEES
As of December 29, 2009, we had approximately 12,100 full-time associates (defined as associates who
average 25 hours or more per week), of whom approximately 600 were employed in general or administrative
functions, principally in our support centers; approximately 1,200 were employed in our fresh dough facility
operations; and approximately 10,300 were employed in our bakery-cafe operations as bakers, managers, and
associates. We also had approximately 13,200 part-time hourly associates at our bakery-cafes as of December 29,
2009. We do not have any collective bargaining agreements with our associates and we consider our employee
relations to be good. We place a priority on staffing our bakery-cafes, fresh dough facilities, and support center
operations with skilled associates and invest in training programs to ensure the quality of our operations.
PROPRIETARY RIGHTS
Our brand, intellectual property and our confidential and proprietary information are very important to our
business and competitive position. We protect these assets through a combination of trademark, copyright, trade
secret and unfair competition and contract laws.
The Panera», Panera Bread», Saint Louis Bread Co.», Via Panera», You Pick Two», Paradise Bakery»,
Paradise Bakery & Café»and Mother Bread design trademarks are some of the trademarks we have registered with
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