Breast Cancer Awareness
Panera Bread Celebrates 10th Anniversary of Pink Ribbon Bagel®
Bagels available in 1,500 bakery-cafes beginning October 1;
More than 7 million Pink Ribbon Bagels sold, $1 million raised for breast cancer charities since 2001
Houston, September 28th, 2011 – Panera Bread is celebrating 10 years of fighting breast cancer by baking bagels. This October, the signature Pink Ribbon Bagel® will be sold at all of Panera Bread’s approximately 1,500 bakery-cafes, with a portion of the proceeds from each bagel sold going to a variety of breast cancer causes throughout the country. A staple each October in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, donations from the sale of the Pink Ribbon Bagel have now raised more than $1 million for breast cancer charities and Panera Bread and its franchisees hope to make 2011 the largest year for donations ever.
"The Pink Ribbon Bagel is a customer favorite, in part because it’s a delicious way to start the day and because each bagel sold helps bring us one step closer to finding a cure for breast cancer," said Panera local spokesperson John Segura. "Panera Bread is proud to work with the communities we serve to help raise money for such a worthy cause. In our market, Memorial Hermann Breast Care Centers will receive the funds we raise to help Breast Cancer research.
This year, Panera Bread is making it even easier to help fight breast cancer locally with the Power of Pink Baker’s Dozen. Throughout the month of October all Houston Metro area bakery-cafes, will donate one dollar from any baker’s dozen of bagels and twenty five cents of each individual Pink Ribbon Bagel sold to Memorial Hermann Breast Care Centers.
Shaped in the form of the iconic pink ribbon, Pink Ribbon Bagels feature cherry chips, dried cherries and cranberries, vanilla, honey, and brown sugar, and are baked fresh early each morning by Panera’s bakers at each bakery-cafe. For each bagel sold, at least 10 cents will be donated to support breast cancer awareness and research. Nearly two million Pink Ribbon Bagels were sold in 2010, raising more than $75,000 for charity.
Panera Bread company-owned and franchise-operated bakery-cafes also support charitable causes through its Operation Dough-Nation® program. They support Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center and have donated over $30,000 dollars in the last two years through this program. Since it was founded in 1992 to formalize Panera’s commitment to community involvement, Operation Dough-Nation has contributed both monetary and bread donations through its Community Breadbox™ and Day-End Dough-Nation™ programs to local food pantries, hunger relief agencies and other community organizations. In 2009, Panera Bread bakery-cafes collectively donated a retail value of more than $50 million of bread and baked goods to charitable organizations helping to feed the hungry in our local communities.
The Pink Ribbon Bagel concept began in 2001 when Sue Stees, co-owner of 18 Panera Bread franchises and a breast cancer survivor, began searching for ways to help other women fighting the same disease. Her search led her to the kitchen where she developed the Pink Ribbon Bagel. She sold 27,000 bagels in her bakery-cafes that first year and was awarded the “You Can Make a Difference Award” from Susan G. Komen for the Cure. To date, more than seven million Pink Ribbon Bagels have been sold.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine this simple bagel concept – created in my Tulsa bakery-cafe – would grow to where it is today, educating the community on breast cancer and inspiring those who are fighting this disease,” Stees said. “I’m extremely blessed to have survived to see the Pink Ribbon Bagel make such an impact over the last 10 years.”
About Memorial Hermann
An integrated health system, Memorial Hermann is known for world-class clinical expertise, patient-centered care, leading edge technology, and innovation. The system, with its exceptional medical staff and more than 20,000 employees, serves southeast Texas and the greater Houston community. Memorial Hermann’s 11 hospitals include three hospitals in the Texas Medical Center, including a level 1 trauma center, a hospital for children and a rehabilitation hospital, and eight suburban hospitals. The system also operates three Heart & Vascular Institute locations, the Mischer Neuroscience Institute, the Ironman Sports Medicine Institute, an air ambulance, cancer, imaging and surgery centers, sports medicine and rehabilitation centers, outpatient laboratories, a wellness center, a chemical dependency treatment center, a home health agency, a retirement community and a nursing home. To learn more, visit www.memorialhermann.org.
About Panera Bread
Panera Bread Company owns and franchises 1,493 bakery-cafes as of June 28, 2011 under the
Panera Bread®, Saint Louis Bread Co.®, and Paradise Bakery & Café® names along with eighteen Houston Metro locations. We feature high quality, reasonably priced food in a warm, inviting, and comfortable environment. With our identity rooted in handcrafted, fresh-baked, artisan bread, we are committed to providing great tasting, quality food that people can trust. Nearly all of our bakery-cafes have a menu highlighted by antibiotic-free chicken, whole grain bread, and select organic and all natural ingredients, with zero grams of artificial trans fat per serving, which provide flavorful, wholesome offerings. Our menu includes a wide variety of year-round favorites complemented by new items introduced seasonally with the goal of creating new standards in everyday food choices. In neighborhoods across the United States and in Ontario, Canada, our customers enjoy our warm and welcoming environment featuring comfortable gathering areas, relaxing decor, and free internet access. Our bakery-cafes routinely donate bread and baked goods to community organizations in need. Additional information is available on our website, http://www.panerabread.com.