Panera bakes up new on-demand delivery option

Panera Bread is introducing a new contactless delivery service in partnership with Postmates.

Panera, which launched national delivery with the DoorDash, Grubhub, and Uber Eats platforms, as well as its own app and website, in August 2019, is expanding the offering to include the third-party Postmates platform. The fast-casual foodservice retailer also recently rolled out a contactless curbside pickup service enabled by geofencing technology.

To celebrate the new partnership, Panera and Postmates have launched a "Food Mood" promotion featuring Postmates' virtual "Food Mood" ring which will determine a surprise offer. From Aug. 14-16, customers can choose to "unlock their Food Mood" when ordering from Panera and they will then receive a surprise discount which will be applied at checkout with a minimum basket fee.

"At Panera, our goal is to make high quality, delicious food accessible for all,” said Chris Correnti, Panera's senior VP of growth and strategy. “We are excited to partner with Postmates to provide a new level of convenience for customers and reach more people than ever before."

"We are thrilled to welcome Panera to the Postmates platform," said Craig Whitmer, VP, Merchant Business Development, Postmates. "Given Panera's wide range of comforting classics to hearty and nutritious options, we are confident that our users will love the range of offerings their local bakery-cafe has to offer."

As of March 31, there were 2,174 bakery-cafes in 48 states and in Ontario, Canada, operating under the Panera Bread or Saint Louis Bread Co. names. Postmates offers on-demand delivery from more than 600,000 restaurants, grocery and convenience stores, and traditional retailers in more than 4,200 cities in the U.S.