• 682e293ee3e3f89a371953d3 Panera

    Panera Bread To Close Last Remaining Dough-Making Plants

    May 21, 2025
    The bakery-café chain recently closed eight fresh dough facilities; the final nine will go offline over the next 18 months as it switches to contract bakers.

    Panera Bread, which recently closed eight fresh dough facilities, will begin shutting down its remaining dough-making plants over the next 18 months, according to various media reports, completing a process it started more than a year ago.

    At its height, Panera had a network of 24 facilities to produce the dough used for bread, bagels and pastries in its nationwide bakery-cafes. The company began closing them down early last year, switching to regional contract bakers who produce par-baked products that are finished in stores.

    With eight fresh dough facilities already closed, the nine remaining will wind down over the next year and a half. The privately held company is in the midst of a three-year reorganization.

    Early last year we reported the closings of plants in Greensboro, N.C.; Ontario, Calif.; Stockton, Calif.; and Lenexa, Kan.

    About the Author

    Dave Fusaro | Editor in Chief

    Dave Fusaro has served as editor in chief of Food Processing magazine since 2003. Dave has 30 years experience in food & beverage industry journalism and has won several national ASBPE writing awards for his Food Processing stories. Dave has been interviewed on CNN, quoted in national newspapers and he authored a 200-page market research report on the milk industry. Formerly an award-winning newspaper reporter who specialized in business writing, he holds a BA in journalism from Marquette University. Prior to joining Food Processing, Dave was Editor-In-Chief of Dairy Foods and was Managing Editor of Prepared Foods.