Founder Ron Shaich has served at Panera's Chief Executive Officer for more than 25 years. Panera currently has 1,264 bakery-cafes in 40 states and Canada, delivering what the company refers to as fresh, authentic artisan bread and cafe foods. The company's mission, "a loaf of bread in every arm" sounds more like a tagline. However, the company has succeeded in making its bread broadly available and claims that it freshly bakes more bread each day than any bakery-cafe concept in the country.

Caribou Coffee (http://www.cariboucoffee.com/)

Headquartered in Minneapolis, MN, Caribou Coffee was founded in 1992. It now has up to 500 company-owned locations in 16 states, the District of Columbia and several international locations. Like most coffee shops, it offers bakery items in addition to beverages, but its emphasis is squarely on its quality coffee.

The company spends most of its efforts developing the brand image of its coffee as being the very best and uses its mission, vision and core values to reinforce the brand image. Caribou Coffee states that, "Our mission at Caribou Coffee is to provide a total experience that makes the day better." Carribou Coffee describes the breathtaking panoramic view of Sables Mountain in Alaska as being both the inspiration for its founding as well as its entrepreneurial vision which states, "Excellence is a product of hard work, and that life is too short for anything else." The company has also established a set of core values that map well to its mission and vision: a) blaze new trails; b) be excellent, not average; c) enjoy what you do; d) respect diversity; e) teamwork builds diversity; f) success and profit create opportunities g) success and profit create opportunities; and h) make a difference in our community.

McDonald's (http://www.mcdonalds.com/)

McDonald's lays claim to being the leading global foodservice retailer with more than 31,000 local...

However, McDonald's seems anxious to add the personal touch and reminds the consumer that more than 75% of McDonald's restaurants worldwide are owned and operated by independent operators. The foods it calls out in its summary include Fries, Big Mac, Quarter Pounder, Chicken McNuggets and Egg McMuffin.
McDonald's Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer is Jim Skinner. He has an amazing tenure with the company, starting as a restaurant manager trainee in 1971. Skinner has also served as Vice Chairman, President and Chief Operating Office of the McDonalds' Restaurant Group, President and Chief Operating Officer of McDonald's - Europe, Asia, Pacific and Middle East, President of McDonald's Europe, Executive Vice President and International Relationship Partner for Central Europe, Middle East, Africa, and India, and Senior Vice President and Relationship Partner for Central Europe, Middle East, Africa, and India.

The mission statement of McDonald's reads as follows:

"McDonald's vision is to be the world's best quick service restaurant experience. Being the best means providing outstanding quality, service, cleanliness, and value, so that we make every customer in every restaurant smile."

The company also places a great deal of emphasis on corporate responsibility and defines itself as a company committed to doing the right thing.

Bibliography

Caribou Coffee. http://www.cariboucoffee.com/

Coffeehouse. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffeehouse

Dunkin' Brands, Inc. http://www.dunkinbrands.com/

Dunkin' Donuts. https://www.dunkindonuts.com

Industry overview: Coffee shops. Hoover's. http://www.hoovers.com/coffee-shops/--ID__264 -- /free-ind-fr-profile-basic.xhtml

Panera Bread. http://www.panerabread.com

McDonald's. http://www.mcdonalds.com/