PRIDE cookies!

As if I need another reason to love Panera!?

Imagine my delight when I approached the counter at a nearby Bread CO recently and saw this cookie.

Some of you know that I have the good fortune to be a four timer at the Panera Test Kitchen – no, I cannot tell you where it is.

I have sampled bowls, salads, grilled cheese sandwiches and cookies.

Near the end of each set of questions about every sample, is a question about how the item you just tasted impacts your overall opinion and feeling about Panera. Does your multi-sensory experience of that item add to or detract from Panera’s reputation for you? I would have gone off the chart for this one!

I don’t imagine they ran this cookie through the test process. What would the questions have been about – taste, aesthetics, social justice scale, prophetic voice decibel?

Some sweet spirit came up with this idea and the company must have decided that it didn’t really matter to them what customers thought. I wonder if they give each local manager the freedom to decide whether or not to feature the PRIDE cookie at their store? Or is it non-negotiable and in every location across the country? Courage!

My imagination runs away with other items they might try. What would you suggest to them?