Verified — real FDD extraction
Not found in the SBA Franchise Directory — SBA financing may be unavailable; verify with your lender
PANERA BREAD BAKERY-CAFÃ
Food & Dining · independent · est. —
Panera Bread is a fast-casual bakery-cafe chain serving soups, salads, sandwiches, and fresh-baked breads and pastries. A franchisee develops and operates full-size cafes with dine-in, drive-thru, and digital ordering, typically committing to multiple units in a market.
PANERA BREAD BAKERY-CAFÃ net unit count grew +2.9% from 2023–2025 per its FDD Item 20.
New to franchising? Start here
A franchise is a business where you (the franchisee) pay a company (the franchisor) for the right to open and run a location using their brand and system — think a local Anytime Fitness or Taco John's owned by a small-business owner, not the corporation.
Before you can buy in, U.S. law requires the franchisor to give you a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) — a long legal filing covering its fees, finances, and history. The numbers on this page come straight from that document:
- Franchise fee — the one-time cost to buy in.
- Royalty — the ongoing cut of your sales you pay the franchisor.
- Item 20 — how many locations opened and closed, the basis for our verdict (from Proven & strong down to Distressed — or Too new to judge).
The verdict
Proven & steady
Distress
A real track record with an unremarkable region of the ledger: neither the growth nor the exits stand out, for better or worse. The standout in the record: owner turnover is low.
Exit rate · latest year
2.9%
vs 8.6% across 137 food & dining systems
Cost to open
$1.3M–$4.6M
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
No loan record
no SBA 7(a)/504 loans found for this brand
Behind the verdict
the record, factor by factor · Item 20
3-yr trend · Item 20 Table 1
terminations + ceased-ops vs. all exits · Table 3
transfers vs. base · Table 3
actual vs. projected openings · Table 5
Item 19 disclosure + completeness
Systemwide units
2023–2025
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2025, 32 of 1,105 franchised outlets left the system — a 2.9% annualized exit rate, vs 8.6% across 137 food & dining systems. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 2,094 | 2,151 | 2,185 |
| Opened | 47 | 24 | 33 |
| Transfers | 35 | 16 | 3 |
| Terminations | 12 | 18 | 32 |
| Non-renewals | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 11 | 3 | 0 |
| Outlets at end | 2,151 | 2,185 | 2,214 |
| Net change | +57 | +34 | +29 |
What it costs — and what it drags
FDD Items 5–7 · fees, investment, royalty
Buying in means a $50K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $1.3M–$4.6M (Item 7). The franchisor publishes an earnings claim (Item 19) — read its methodology closely.
To open (Item 7)
$1.3M–$4.6M
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$50K
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
5%
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — cross-check against this brand's Item 19 and current-owner validation.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$50K
5% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$500K
royalties alone, excl. ad fund
This is not profit. It's the only money the FDD actually pins down — what you put in, and the royalty you owe on every dollar of sales. Your real take-home depends on labor, rent, food cost, and ramp-to-breakeven, none of which any FDD discloses.
Build a real pro-forma for PANERA BREAD BAKERY-CAFÃ with an independent CPADistress signals
news-sourced · bankruptcies, closures, lawsuits
No recent closures, bankruptcies, or major lawsuits found in the news for PANERA BREAD BAKERY-CAFÃ. That's a good sign — but it reflects news coverage, not a guarantee.
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. An independent CPA is paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing PANERA BREAD BAKERY-CAFÃ's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →PANERA BREAD BAKERY-CAFÃ franchise questions, answered from the filings
What percentage of PANERA BREAD BAKERY-CAFÃ franchises closed last year?
In PANERA BREAD BAKERY-CAFÃ's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2025), 32 of 1,105 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 2.9% — compared with 8.6% across 137 food & dining systems tracked here. That counts terminations, non-renewals, and "ceased operations — other reasons." There is no official failure rate, and not every exit is a failure, but this is the measurable floor.
How much does a PANERA BREAD BAKERY-CAFÃ franchise cost?
Per PANERA BREAD BAKERY-CAFÃ's 2026 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $50K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $1.3M–$4.6M (Item 7).
What royalty does PANERA BREAD BAKERY-CAFÃ charge?
PANERA BREAD BAKERY-CAFÃ charges an ongoing royalty of 5.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2026 FDD.
Does PANERA BREAD BAKERY-CAFÃ disclose earnings (Item 19)?
Yes — PANERA BREAD BAKERY-CAFÃ makes a financial performance representation in Item 19 of its 2026 FDD. Read it closely: franchisors choose which units and which metrics to include.