Panera RISE – Panera’s CEO Paul Carbone says a “spreadsheet” style cost-cutting move—swapping salad base from 100% romaine to a romaine-and-iceberg mix in summer 2024—became a symbol of how the chain lost touch with what guests cared about. The lettuce decision was fully re
When Panera’s chief financial officer approved a salad change in summer 2024, it was the kind of decision that can look clean on a spreadsheet: the chain swapped its salad base from 100% romaine lettuce to a mix of romaine and iceberg.
Now, with Paul Carbone in the CEO seat, that same move sits in his mind as proof of how thinking can go wrong when it leans too heavily on efficiency. “No one really likes iceberg lettuce,” Carbone told Business Insider. “No one looks at that white salad and says, ‘Now that’s worth it.’”
The company has since pulled that decision back. Panera fully reversed the lettuce move in June 2025, shortly after Carbone became chief executive—turning a single menu tweak into shorthand for a broader deterioration the chain is trying to fix.
Carbone frames Panera RISE as a response to years of small cuts—menu changes and operational tweaks—that chipped away at the kind of experience customers once remembered loving. He described the turnaround as something the company started building after multiple years of negative same-store transactions. when sales sometimes rose but. in his view. were driven by pricing and mix rather than by more customers walking in.
“The lifeblood of a restaurant company is transactions,” Carbone said. “So that’s where we started to develop Panera RISE.”
RISE is Panera’s acronym for the steps of its turnaround effort. It stands for “refresh the menu,” “ignite value,” “serve guests with excellence,” and “expand the network.” Carbone said Panera spent months talking with thousands of customers to determine the areas it needed to focus on most.
Those complaints. as Carbone describes them. cluster around value and experience: food that no longer felt worth the price. fewer affordable options. weaker in-store service. and growing competition for diners’ attention. Even with “warm feelings” still present among many former guests. some have stopped visiting because Panera became too expensive. removed favorite menu items. or simply fell out of people’s routines.
That challenge sits in a market where consumers have become more selective. The story Carbone is responding to includes a split in spending behavior. where lower-income consumers cut back while wealthier households keep spending; restaurants have responded with discounts and limited-time offers to improve value messaging. but analysts have warned value alone doesn’t always bring customers back.
Panera’s traffic adds pressure to the timeline. Foot traffic has declined year over year every month from January through May this year. according to data from the foot traffic firm Placer.ai. R.J. Hottovy. Placer.ai’s head of analytical research. said sandwich chains in particular have seen fewer visits than other concepts as consumers push back on menu price increases and embrace healthier eating habits.
Carbone’s diagnosis isn’t only about menu. He said Panera cut labor at cafés to cut costs, and that the company has since added a front-of-house role called the Guest Experience Champion to greet customers, answer questions, and help maintain dining rooms.
There’s also a lesson about technology. Carbone said the company once sold itself as a technology company that sold food. “I will tell you emphatically, we are a restaurant company that uses technology to enhance the guest experience. We’re not a technology company,” he said.
That does not mean backing away from digital. Carbone said about a quarter of Panera’s business is now eaten inside its cafés, while two-thirds of customers still walk into a restaurant—whether they are dining in, picking up, or ordering to go. With that reality, in-store experience still matters.
The clearest evidence of RISE is arriving with Panera’s summer rollout tied to the transformation strategy. The menu update includes new shrimp-topped bowls, upgraded salads, bacon-and-cheese breakfast frittatas, frozen coffees, and fruit-forward beverages. The broader overhaul is meant to remind customers why they “fell in love with Panera in the first place. ” with items such as its Carnitas Elote bowl shown alongside the chain’s popular Mexican Street Corn Chowder.
As Panera works through its RISE reset—reversing the lettuce decision in June 2025 after months of negative same-store transactions. reshaping labor and the in-café experience. and reframing technology around guests—the central question is whether customers will feel the difference enough to return. The sequence is simple enough to measure: Carbone’s focus is transactions first, then sales, then profits.
Under RISE. Carbone said Panera’s priorities now are “Transactions. sales. profits — in that order.” After years of trying to drive growth through price cuts and efficiency. the company is betting that getting customers back will take something simpler than more discounts: giving them a reason to come back.
Panera Paul Carbone RISE transformation romaine lettuce iceberg lettuce same-store transactions foot traffic Placer.ai Guest Experience Champion digital ordering menu overhaul shrimp-topped bowls upgraded salads breakfast frittatas