FILING · MN · 2026 FDD
PANERA BREAD BAKERY-CAFE FDD (Franchise Disclosure Document) — 2026
The FDD is the 23-item legal disclosure every U.S. franchisor must hand you at least 14 days before you sign or pay anything (FTC Franchise Rule, 16 CFR 436). PANERA BREAD BAKERY-CAFE's most recent FDD tracked here is the 2026 FDD, a multistate filing. Registration-state filings are public records, so you can read it free, with no sign-up.
PUBLIC RECORD · FILED 2026 · SOURCE STATE MN
| ITEM 5 | Initial franchise fee | $50,000 |
| ITEM 6 | Ongoing royalty | 5.0% of gross sales |
| ITEM 7 | Total initial investment | $1.3M–$4.6M |
| ITEM 3 | Disclosed litigation matters | 2 |
| ITEM 19 | Earnings disclosure (FPR) | Yes — financial performance representation made |
| ITEM 20 | Outlets (fiscal 2025) | 1,106 franchised at year end · 32 exits (exit rate 2.9%, fiscal 2025) |
| ITEM 21 | Franchisor financial statements | Unmodified (clean) opinion — KPMG LLP (principal auditor of Panera Brands, Inc.; Grant Thornton LLP audited subsidiary Caribou Coffee Company, Inc.) |
The headline figure is Average Net Sales (Company-owned and Franchisee-owned Bakery-Cafes) for 52-week FY ended Dec 30, 2025, for 2,160 of 2,214 outlets open at year end, leaving out not open the entire fiscal year, Non-Traditional Bakery-Cafes, delivery-only locations.
Graded on three things the filing states: coverage (2 points if the figure covers at least 75% of the units it is compared with, 1 point for 50–75%), centre (2 points if it prints both a median and a mean, 1 for one of them), and costs (2 points for costs through a profit line or full cost detail, 1 for some cost items). 5–6 points = More complete, 3–4 = Partial, 0–2 = Limited. The grade describes the disclosure, not the business.
| What is measured | Average Net Sales (Company-owned and Franchisee-owned Bakery-Cafes) (net sales) |
| Period | 52-week FY ended Dec 30, 2025 |
| Whose results | Franchised and company-owned outlets together |
| Units included | 2,160 of 2,214 outlets at the end of FY2025 (Item 20) |
| Left out |
|
| Average (mean) | $2.6M |
| Median | not printed |
| Costs shown | Some cost items only |
| Where | p. 63 (Item 19 runs pp. 63–65) |
| The filing's words | “the mean averages of the reported annual Net Sales of 1,087 company-owned Bakery-Cafes and 1,073 Franchisee-owned Bakery-Cafes open during the entire fiscal year ending December 30, 2025” |
KPMG LLP (principal auditor of Panera Brands, Inc.; Grant Thornton LLP audited subsidiary Caribou Coffee Company, Inc.) gave an unmodified (clean) opinion on the statements in the 2026 FDD; revenue fell 7% from FY2023 to FY2025 and it reported a net loss in FY2025.
Audit opinion
Unmodified (clean) opinion
KPMG LLP (principal auditor of Panera Brands, Inc.; Grant Thornton LLP audited subsidiary Caribou Coffee Company, Inc.)
Revenue · FY2025
$4.61B
p. 307 · matched to statement
Net income · FY2025
−$435.7M
p. 307 · matched to statement
Where FY2025 revenue came from
5% royalties
initial-fee share not extracted
- Fiscal years covered: FY2023, FY2024, FY2025 (2026 FDD, statements from p. 307)
- Statements are for: PANERA BRANDS, INC.
- Parent / owner: not identified in the statements
| Fiscal year | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total revenue | $4.95Bp. 307 · matched to statement | $4.69Bp. 307 · matched to statement | $4.61Bp. 307 · matched to statement |
| Royalty revenue | $232.7Mp. 307 · matched to statement | $225.6Mp. 307 · matched to statement | $221.0Mp. 307 · matched to statement |
| Net income (loss) | $173.1Mp. 307 · matched to statement | $133.6Mp. 307 · matched to statement | −$435.7Mp. 307 · matched to statement |
| Equity (deficit) at year end | not extracted | $5.22Bp. 306 | $4.76Bp. 306 |
| Cash at year end | not extracted | $127.0Mp. 306 | $89.1Mp. 306 |
How to read this: royalties recur as long as franchisees trade; initial and development fees arrive only when new franchises are sold. A franchisor whose revenue leans on initial fees is funding itself by selling territories, and that revenue stops when sales slow. Under ASC 606 most franchisors recognize initial fees over the agreement term, so the line understates the cash collected in a strong selling year. Ad-fund revenue, where reported, is included in total revenue as the statements present it.
Each figure links to its page in the filed PDF. “Matched to statement” means our extraction and a second, rule-based read of the statement page agree; “extracted · not cross-checked” means the statement page is a scanned image or could not be read as text. Figures we could not place on a consistent scale are withheld, not guessed. Spotted an error? Report a correction.
Every figure above was extracted by software from the 2026 PANERA BREAD BAKERY-CAFE FDD as filed (figures are not individually checked by a person) and links back to that document. Fields that could not be extracted are omitted; no figure here is estimated. Extraction errors are possible: the filing controls, and FDDs are reissued annually; verify against the current issuance before relying on any number. Spotted an error? Franchisors and owners can report it via the contact on our Terms page.
PANERA BREAD BAKERY-CAFE FDD questions, answered
Where can I download the PANERA BREAD BAKERY-CAFE FDD for free?
PANERA BREAD BAKERY-CAFE's 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document is a public record. It can be downloaded free from the source link on this page — no broker form, no email signup required.
What year is PANERA BREAD BAKERY-CAFE's most recent FDD on file?
The most recent PANERA BREAD BAKERY-CAFE FDD tracked here is the 2026 FDD. Franchisors must update their FDD annually; confirm you are reading the current issuance before signing.
Does PANERA BREAD BAKERY-CAFE's FDD disclose earnings (Item 19)?
Yes — PANERA BREAD BAKERY-CAFE makes a financial performance representation in Item 19 of its 2026 FDD. Read the basis fine print: franchisors choose which units and metrics to include.
What does PANERA BREAD BAKERY-CAFE's FDD Item 20 show?
In fiscal 2025, PANERA BREAD BAKERY-CAFE ended with 1,106 franchised outlets; 32 of 1,105 open at the start of the year left the system (exit rate 2.9%, fiscal 2025) through terminations, non-renewals, and "ceased operations — other reasons".
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