"We feel that this is a terrific way to get consumers more interested in not only in our coffee platform but also for them to get exposed to the strength of the food that we have in our cafes, particularly around breakfast," Panera CEO Niren Chaudhary told Business Insider.Panera is unleashing a radical new weapon in the fast-food breakfast wars: an unlimited coffee subscription.
Subscribers in test markets visited Panera almost every other day, and many of those customers purchased food during their visits, Chaudhary said. More than 90% of subscribers renewed their memberships for subsequent months. Customers must sign up for the loyalty program, which currently has more than 38 million members, to access the unlimited coffee subscription.MyPanera members can sign up for the subscription through Panera's app starting Thursday. In-store signups will be available starting March 2.
If the subscription model is successful, Panera could expand it to include more than just coffee, Chaudhary said.