We all know that at the end of each day, restaurants across the nation are left with perishable food that hasn’t been sold and can’t be saved for later use. In fact, according to the Restaurant Food Waste Action Guide, restaurants in the U.S. are responsible for 11.4 million tons of food waste each year. The annual price tag? More than $25 billion.
Panera’s Day-End Dough-Nation program is one way the restaurant is working to help address the food waste issue.
“At Panera, we embrace the opportunity to spread generosity to our communities. Generosity is at the forefront of everything we do. We care for our communities by donating to charities dedicated to feeding our neighbors in need. That’s why our bakery-cafes donate their unsold bread, bagels, and baked goods to local nonprofits at the end of the night through our Day-End Dough-Nation program,” the company said on its website.
Panera’s bakery-cafes work in tandem with thousands of charitable organizations, distributing sustenance to those in need via a diverse array of programs and services including after-school programs, backpack programs, domestic violence shelters, community free meal programs, food rescue agencies, homeless shelters, immigration/refugee services, low-income elderly housing, low-income health centers, mental health centers, outreach programs for people with disabilities and those in recovery, soup kitchens, veterans services, transitional homes, and youth shelters.
Although Panera Bread has partnered with more than 3,500 local nonprofits through the Day-End Dough-Nation program, they’re always looking for new opportunities to do more. Panera accepts program applications on a rolling basis. To be considered, organizations must meet the following requirements:
Be a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, religious organization, or public school.
Distribute the donated products to people in need, people who are ill, or to underserved and at-risk children and youth.
Commit to picking up and distributing the unsold bread, bagels, and baked goods on a weekly and continuous basis. Organizations interested in participating in Panera’s Day-End Dough-Nation program must apply online. The Panera Bread donations team will review all applications and respond via email to each organization.
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