On March 23, the popular American Panera Bread bakery network experienced significant disruptions in their operations, impacting the company’s IT systems nationwide. The outages affected online orders, cash register terminals, telephone communications, and various internal services.
Despite all restaurants remaining open, they were only able to accept cash payments, as the system issues prevented the processing of credit or debit card transactions. Loyalty program members were also unable to redeem their accumulated points due to the system malfunctions. Additionally, self-service kiosks and corporate platforms containing shift and staff schedules were inaccessible.
In a statement posted on the company’s Facebook page, Panera Bread apologized for the inconvenience and urged customers to bear with them while they worked to resolve the issues. They reassured customers that orders could still be placed through cashiers in the restaurant halls.
While the company’s website and mobile applications were also affected by the outages, displaying messages about maintenance and system upgrades, the customer support service was non-functional, with calls unable to be answered due to unforeseen circumstances.
Although Panera Bread has not yet released an official statement regarding the incident, the timing and scope of the disruptions suggest a potential cyberattack, as criminals often target weekends when network security may be less closely monitored.
As of January 23, 2024, Panera Bread and its franchises operated 2,160 bakeries under the Panera Bread and Saint Louis Bread Co brands in 48 states of the USA and the Canadian province of Ontario. Panera Bread is a subsidiary of Panera Brands, one of the largest restaurant associations in the United States, which also owns Caribou Coffee and Einstein Bros Bagels.
Recent incidents of global failures in other restaurant chains, such as McDonald’s and Golden Corral, have raised concerns about the vulnerability of these systems to cyberattacks. Similarly, the British bakery chain Greggs faced a similar issue last week, prompting speculation and conspiracy theories among users.