Removing Additives From Menu 'Is Not About The Competition,' Says Panera CEO

Following the trend of several food companies before it, Panera Bread Co (NASDAQ: PNRA) announced on Tuesday that it will also remove artificial color, flavors and other additives from its menu. Ron Shaich, Panera CEO, was on CNBC recently to talk about these changes.

A Long Time Coming

Shaich revealed that Panera has been working on going all natural for over a decade. "It all goes back 11 years ago when we were the first restaurant chain in the country to remove, from our poultry, antibiotics.

"It continued six years ago – we removed all non-naturally occurring trans-fats," he said.

Related Link: Panera Bread Becomes First National Restaurant Company To Share List Of Unacceptable Ingredients

Panera changed its food policy a year ago, and in accordance with that food policy, the company now wants to "remove all artificial colors, flavors, preservatives and sweeteners."

Shaich explained, "It's a no-no list, a 150-odd ingredients, which you can be assured will not be in the Panera menu."

Not Driven By Competition

He refuted the argument that Panera had to in any way do this because most of its competitors were removing such additives from their menus, saying, "No, I wouldn't say that."

"Listen this is not about that at all. It's not about the competition. This comes [as] something we have been working on for several years.

"The team working on this has been working on it for a decade. The reality is my kids eat at these restaurants 10 times a week. I am in there five to 10 times a week. This is how I want to eat, so it seems to me only logical that's what I want to do for my guests," Shaich concluded. 

 
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