Panera rolls out six fall items, revives soups as it shifts bread strategy

Panera Bread is rolling out six new fall items nationwide for a limited time, including the Crème Brulee Latte and Harvest Medley Chicken Salad, the company said. The limited-time menu debuted in stores Sept. 24. In a marketing push tied to the fall season, Panera also features the return of three fan-favorite soups — Black Bean, Autumn Squash and Hearty Fireside Chili — in a new commercial starring Gilmore Girls alumni Jared Padalecki and Matt Czuchry. The Black Bean Soup, in particular, is making a comeback after seven years due to customer demand.

Along with the soups, Panera highlights the return of its signature pumpkin cookies. The campaign includes nods to the character Jess Mariano, a favorite among some fans, as Padalecki and Czuchry promote the seasonal lineup during on-set shoots and in the new advertisement. "Fall and Panera soup just go together, just like a nostalgic rewatch of your favorite fall show," Padalecki said. The commercial also references fellow Gilmore Girls character Jess Mariano, a nod noted by fans watching the ad.

Panera’s fall menu arrives after a sweeping 2024 menu revamp that trimmed 48 items as the chain shifted to focus on core offerings: soups, salads, sandwiches and mac & cheese. The chain also removed items such as the blueberry bagel, Baja bowl and the cold brew. It later eliminated Charged Lemonade after the beverage was linked to several deaths. The changes signaled a pivot toward a more streamlined menu designed to emphasize popular staples.

The company also moved away from baking all breads fresh at every store in favor of an on-demand model in which par-baked, frozen bread is produced by a third-party bakery and shipped to cafes for daily baking. Under this model, fresh bread can be baked at varying times during the day instead of only in the morning. Panera said the approach helps maintain broad availability while protecting bread quality, though some critics say it reduces the artisanal nature of its loaves. Factoring into the shift were the closure of its fresh dough factories in Lenexa, Kansas, and Greensboro, North Carolina.

Industry context and rivals also weigh on the chain’s trajectory. Subway, which operates in a similar market segment, shuttered 631 locations last year, leaving fewer than 20,000 U.S. locations for the first time in two decades and marking the eighth straight year of closures after peaking around 27,000 stores in 2015.

Panera says the six new items are a limited-time offer designed to complement its core menu of soups, salads, sandwiches and mac & cheese as guests head into the fall season. The company did not provide a timeline for extending the lineup beyond the current limited run.