Panera BreadFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Panera Bread franchise requires a total initial investment of $1.3M – $4.7M, including a $35K franchise fee and an ongoing 5.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $2.7M[2]. Verdict grade: A. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $1.3M – $4.7M
- 97th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $2.7M
- 56th pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 5.0%
- 13th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 2,206
- 96th pct Service Resta…
- SBA default
- 0.0%
- system-wide median varies by category
Quick verdict · Quick-Service Restaurants · color = vs category peers
Green = >15% above Quick-Service Restaurants avg · No shading = within ±15% · Red = >15% below avg · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Franchising since 1993. Systems this mature have refined operations and brand recognition.
Franchised units fell from 1105 to 1089 over 3 years. Investigate why operators are leaving.
17% cash-on-cash return (based on EBITDA). Within the 15-30% range most franchise investors consider acceptable.
Large franchise systems benefit from brand recognition, supply chain leverage, and proven operations.
Bottom line
- Total investment $1.3M – $4.7M including a $35K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $2.7M/year (median $2.9M), with an estimated 17% cash-on-cash return (based on EBITDA).
- Verdict A (Top Quintile) with a risk score of 21/100.
- Established system with 2,206 units across 33 years of franchising. Strong brand recognition and operational playbook.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- Panera, LLC
- Parent company
- Panera Brands, Inc.
- Ultimate parent
- Panera Bread Company
- Predecessor
- have been operating and franchising Panera
- Prior franchisor entity
- CEO title
- Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer
- Paul Carbone
- Incorporated in
- DE
- HQ
- 1400 South Highway Drive, Suite 100, Fenton Missouri 63026
- Auditor
- KPMG LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $5.0B
- vs $4.7B prior year
- Management churn noted
- Frequent turnover
- Item 2 disclosed frequent executive changes
Independent franchisee associations
- Franchise Advisory Council (FAC)
Franchisee-led councils or alliances disclosed in Item 20. Indicates operator voice.
Affiliated brands
- of Panera with a pr
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Overview
About
Franchisees operate fast-casual bakery-café locations serving made-to-order sandwiches, salads, soups, and baked goods. Day-to-day operations include managing kitchen production, customer service, inventory, labor scheduling, and maintaining Panera's brand standards across food quality, cleanliness, and digital ordering integration.
- CEO
- Paul Carbone
- Founded
- 1993
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 44
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing · 18 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Franchise Fee | $35K | $35K | |
| Real Property | — | — | |
| Leasehold Improvements (Small Box) | $524K | $1.1M | |
| Leasehold Improvements (Core) | $643K | $2.9M | |
| Equipment (Small Box) | $383K | $478K | |
| Equipment (Core) | $375K | $507K | |
| Optional Technology Systems | $100K | $132K | |
| Fixtures (Small Box) | $41K | $70K | |
| Fixtures (Core) | $72K | $124K | |
| Furniture (Small Box) | $17K | $68K | |
| Furniture (Core) | $26K | $95K | |
| Consultant fees | $47K | $328K | |
| Supplies & Inventory | $22K | $30K | |
| Smallwares | $10K | $48K | |
| Signage (Small Box) | $21K | $110K | |
| Signage (Core) | $19K | $102K | |
| Additional Funds (3 months) (Small Box) | $67K | $150K | |
| Additional Funds (3 months) (Core) | $86K | $352K | |
| Total initial investment | $2.5M | $6.6M |
Line items extracted from FDD Item 7. Ranges reflect the franchisor's stated low and high per line. Total is the sum of line-item lows / highs — actual costs may fall outside this range depending on market and build-out scope.
Single-unit · estimated
Returns at a glance
Indicative numbers using FDD Item 7 / Item 19 inputs and category-benchmarked cost ratios. Full single-unit, 25-unit portfolio, and LBO models (with every input editable to stress-test your own scenario) live on the financials page.
Store EBITDA · annual
$366K
13.5% margin
Unlevered ROIC
12%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
8.7 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $1.3M – $4.7M
- Below avg, review vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $67K – $352K
- Below avg, review vs category
- Franchise fee
- $35K – $35K
- Near category avg vs category
- Royalty
- 5.0%
- Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 3.5%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 8.5%
- vs 9–13% typical
- Payback period
- 6.0 yrs
- From FDD / Item 19
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 5.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 3.5% of gross sales |
| Transfer fee | $8K |
| Renewal fee | $50 |
| Inventory (initial) | $22K – $30K |
| Total fee load | 8.5% of rev |
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $2.7M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $2.9M
- Avg ebitda
- $492K
- Reported as EBITDA in FDD Item 19
- Cash-on-cash
- 16.6%
- Based on EBITDA / investment midpoint
- Item 19 type
- net_sales
- Sample size
- 2134 units
- vs category median 28 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $436K→$6.1M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Transparency tier
- revenue_only
- Categorical assessment of disclosure depth
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Transparency
- 10 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · above
Compared against 453 Quick-Service Restaurants brands
Revenue is only 0.9x the investment. This means each unit may take 5+ years to recoup the initial outlay at typical margins.
vs Quick-Service Restaurants averages
How Panera Bread Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 2,206
- Opened
- 24
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 21
- Turnover rate
- 1.0%
- Company-owned
- 1,101
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 50%
- vs corporate-owned
- Multi-unit owners
- 5.0%
- Net growth (yr3)
- -0.7%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- +1.5%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Closed (3yr)
- 11
- Terminated (3yr)
- 12
- Transfers (3yr)
- 16
- Transfer rate
- 0.7%
- Owners selling to other franchisees
- Termination rate
- 0.5%
- Franchisor-initiated terminations
- Ceased ops
- 0.5%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 11 states with active franchisees
The Territory Map
Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator. Not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).
States derived from franchisee contact records (FDD Item 20). Shows states with at least one current operator on file. Full state registration data (Item 12) will appear on a future FDD refresh.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA loan disclosures. This brand has only 1 7(a) loan on file; statistical reliability is limited below 10 loans.
- Total loans
- 1
- Loan volume
- $3.6M
- Median loan
- $3.6M
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 0.0%
- rates vary by category · see methodology
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- 100.0%
- 5-yr charge-off
- N/A
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 1
- Defaults
- 0
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Premium insight
SBA Lending Report
Deep-dive into Panera Bread's SBA lending history: lender network, geographic footprint, interest rates, and more.
SBA Lending Report
- Principal loss rate and NAICS industry benchmark
- 1 lenders with concentration factor
- Per-state charge-off rates across 1 states
- Startup risk premium and job creation velocity
- 1-year lending trend
- SBA 504 real estate/equipment data
Instant access. No subscription.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Panera presents moderate-to-caution risk: a mature, slightly declining QSR system with litigation history, missing financial transparency (no Item 19), and high capital requirements that demand careful unit-level validation.
Litigation (Item 3)
Settlement Agreement with 13 states and District of Columbia regarding employee non-solicitation provisions in franchise agreements. Settled March 22, 2019. Panera agreed to discontinue and remove non-solicitation provisions and post notices. No admission of liability.
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · KPMG LLP
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: No
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 21 / 100 rating
- 01MEDUnit decline of -0.7% YoY indicates mature/contracting system with 2,206 locations
- 02MINORNo Item 19 (Financial Performance Representations) provided despite average revenue of $2.7M — unable to validate earnings claims
- 03HIGH2019 non-solicitation litigation settlement suggests franchise agreement enforcement issues and potential franchisor-franchisee relationship tensions
- 04MINORHigh initial investment range ($1.3M–$4.6M) requires strong unit-level economics to justify ROI, particularly in declining system
- 05MINORNet income of $492K on $2.7M revenue yields ~18% net margin — acceptable but vulnerable to operational inefficiencies or cost inflation
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 20 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 20 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Territory type | Radius |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Territory sizeℹ | 50,000 people |
| Online sales rights | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 5 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 30 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 2 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | St. Louis, Missouri |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Missouri |
| Litigation count | 1 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
Settlement Agreement with 13 states and District of Columbia regarding employee non-solicitation provisions in franchise agreements. Settled March 22, 2019. Panera agreed to discontinue and remove non-solicitation provisions and post notices. No admission of liability.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 22 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 498 hrs
- Training location
- Certified Training Bakery-Cafe and Home Bakery-Cafe
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Field support
- 768 hrs/yr
- On-site visits per year
- Site selection
- franchisor
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
75 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Panera Bread · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Panera Bread franchise?
The total investment to open a Panera Bread franchise ranges from $1.3M – $4.7M, with an initial franchise fee of $35K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Panera Bread franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Panera Bread FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $2.7M. The median is $2.9M. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Panera Bread's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Panera Bread (fewer than 10 loans on file). Charge-off rates are one way to gauge franchise risk, but not all franchise loans go through the SBA program. We recommend reviewing turnover and closure data in the FDD and speaking with current franchisees.
How many Panera Bread franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Panera Bread has 2,206 total units in the United States, including 1,105 franchised units and 1,101 company-owned units. 24 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Panera Bread a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Panera Bread as a A-grade franchise with a risk score of 21 out of 100, based on our analysis of investment costs, revenue data, SBA loan performance, and growth trends. Our rating is based solely on publicly available FDD and government data; we recommend speaking with current franchisees before making any investment decision. This is not investment advice.
Data sourced from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) FOIA records. Not financial advice.
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Data extracted from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) loan disclosures (FOIA). This information is provided for research purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Verify all figures with the franchisor's current Franchise Disclosure Document before making any investment decision.