Panera Bread is a chain of bakery-café fast casual restaurants in the United States and Canada. The company is headquartered in Sunset Hills, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. The chain operates over 2,000 locations, with more than 100,000 employees. Its menu includes soups, salads, pasta, sandwiches, and bakery items. Panera Bread was founded in 1981 as Au Bon Pain Co., Inc. and changed its name to Panera Bread in 1999. In 2017, the company was acquired by JAB Holding Company, a private equity firm. In fiscal year 2020, the company generated sales of more than $5 billion.