According to the Panera Bread website (2011), the company mission is simply "A loaf of bread in every arm." (para. 7). Panera Bread Company is a bakery-café serving specialty sandwiches, gourmet soups and desserts. Panera founders Shaich and Kane have consistently built the company around a growth strategy. Shaich and Kane initially managed Au Bon Pain; a bakery served large urban areas. Seeking to expand into other markets, the couple obtained the St. Louis Bread Company, seeing the benefits of acquiring an already established business. The niche market that Au Bon Pain had previously enjoyed had become a strategic weakness as it was limiting. The bakery-café culture developed at the St. Louis Bread Company was too expensive to implement at Au Bon Pain locations. Shaich, the remaining founder, sold Au Bon Pain which left no debt and no cash reserves to expand the St. Louis Bread Company, known as Panera Bread Company outside of the St. Louis area. Growth Strategy According to Wheelen & Hunger (2010), Panera's management believed that its specialty bakery-café concept had significant growth potential, which it hoped to realize through a combination of company-owned, franchised, and joint venture-operated stores . Franchising has been a key component of the company's growth strategy. (p. 29-10). Demand for Panera's franchise opportunities was very high, which allowed Panera to be choosy about where and who it did business with. Panera has determined where the bakery-café locations could be. Franchisees bore the cost of opening new locations and had to obtain their ingredients from the parent company. Expanding using the franchising model has provided many positive benefits for Panera, while limiting the research and development disadvantage regarding menu items. Offering dinner menu items and constantly updating seasonal items has proven beneficial for Panera. Panera appears poised to continue to dominate the bakery-café market and continued sustainable growth is very likely. "Annual report" quoted from Works. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.panerabread.com/pdf/10k-2010.pdf "Company Overview." (2011). Retrieved from http://www.panerabread.com/about/company/"News Release". (2010). Retrieved from http://www.panerabread.com/pdf/pr-20100826.pdf Rockwood, Kate. (2009, October). Leavening dough. Fast Company, (139), 69-70,73,16. Retrieved from Search Library. (Document ID: 1870795761). Wheelen, Thomas L. & Hunger, J. David, (2010). Strategic management and corporate policy: achieving sustainability. (12th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.