Panera’s CEO unveiled a comeback plan—and it includes better ingredients like lettuce: ‘No one likes iceberg’

With sales stagnating, Panera Brands CEO Paul Carbone unveiled a bold plan yesterday to win back customers: make everything better.

Panera, once considered the gold standard in American fast-casual dining, has fallen behind competitors like Chipotle and Panda Express, with its sales dropping 5% to $6.1 billion last year. Carbone says the goal is to reach $7 billion in annual sales by 2028 behind “Panera RISE,” a new strategy intended to undo the chain’s cost-cutting measures, which he dubbed “death by a thousand paper cuts.”

The overhaul includes: • Lettuce: Salads will be fully romaine again and no longer include iceberg. “No one likes iceberg,” said Carbone, who also may have been delivering a four-word review of Titanic. Salads will also have eight ingredients instead of the current