The Billionaire Who Reinvented Casual Dining

Forbes

Ron Shaich opened his first bakery at 26 years old. In the decades since, he’s made a killing as a food fortune teller, discovering and bringing to market some of America’s biggest restaurant brands. Here’s what he thinks is next.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/2025/05/31/panera-and-cava-made-him-a-billionaire-heres-what-hes-cooking-up-now/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00In a post-pandemic world, as fine dining continues to navigate its recovery from the pandemic,

00:05fast-casual dining chains have emerged as a resilient and successful model

00:09within an industry facing considerable challenges.

00:13According to Technomic's Top 500 Chain Restaurants report,

00:17a ranking of chain restaurants by system-wide sales,

00:20fast-casual chains Chipotle, Panera Bread, and Raising Canes

00:23all landed in the top 20, with more spread among the top 50.

00:28These brands are not just attracting more customers, they're eating more of the market,

00:32with the fast-casual category posting 11.2% growth in 2023 and 9% growth in 2024, according to Technomic.

00:41So what's going on?

00:42To better understand how these fast-casual brands are surviving in a crowded market,

00:47Forbes turned to Panera Bread.

00:48And the Panera Bread story starts with Ron Seiche,

00:51a billionaire who was recently profiled by our wealth reporter Jermana McAvoy.

00:57Ron Seiche, a self-made billionaire restaurateur, has been hailed as a food fortune teller

01:06for his uncanny ability to spot major industry shifts.

01:11Under his leadership until 2017, Panera grew to over $5 billion in system-wide sales

01:17and more than 2,000 units.

01:19This strategic foresight established Panera as a dominant force, showcasing Seiche's unique vision

01:27in the winner-takes-all world of American dining.

01:31Panera did a really good job of starting the fast-casual concept.

01:35You only had fast food and you had really high-end dining.

01:38And when Panera came about, it was good food, but in an approachable way.

01:47In 1981, Ron Seiche acquired a majority stake in Au Bon Pain,

01:51which he merged with the St. Louis Bread Company in 1993.

01:54This would eventually become Panera Bread.

01:56According to Seiche, one of his early goals with Panera was to fill a gap he saw in consumer preferences.

02:05He believed consumers were tired of mass-market options

02:08and wanted something other than traditional fast food, or fine dining.

02:13This belief, which he applied to soup, salad, and sandwiches,

02:17became the foundation of the fast-casual category.

02:20This theory of finding niches in the market and gaining an early advantage in that market

02:26is central to Ron's business philosophy.

02:30Fast-casual as a concept that has both the convenience and efficiencies of fast food

02:38and getting your meals quickly, on the go,

02:42but also being higher quality, something that's elevated above a fast food chain.

02:47And also that casual eating experience that's not fine dining,

02:53but is a nice place to sit and have a meal.

02:57Fast-casual dining strikes a balance by being perceived as relatively affordable,

03:02offering good value for money compared to traditional fine dining.

03:06Customers appreciate the satisfying portion sizes,

03:09feeling content with their choices rather than overly full or still hungry.

03:13There is that sense of, like, you just feel comfortable there.

03:18I remember, too, Panera was, like, the cool coffee shop for a while

03:22because they had Wi-Fi as well, which is a big deal.

03:25To be able to go to a place, have a good meal, enjoy friends,

03:29but not feel like it was, you know, just a fast excuse for a meal.

03:33I want to be able to eat healthy, but also feel like as I'm eating healthy,

03:38I'm treating myself to something a little indulgent.

03:42And that's what's so cool about this category is that you feel like you're indulging on something special.

03:50You're spending a little bit more, but it feels like a treat

03:53even as you're fueling your body with the best ingredients.

03:56Another competitive advantage Sheesh found was early adoption of technology.

04:09Panera was an early adopter of loyalty programs, which they started in 2010.

04:15So there's control from the consumer side, there's personalization,

04:18but then there's also the infrastructure behind it that leads to better targeting and loyalty.

04:26So we want to know our consumers.

04:29We want to know them because if we understand how they order and, you know,

04:35are there different segments or the segments that have this combination of ingredients

04:39and the segment that has this combination, then I can build different defaults

04:44or, you know, bowls that get to the needs of different consumer segments.

04:51I can deliver personalized rewards.

04:56So that's really important for customer lifetime value.

05:00We want to have nudges and incentives that are specific to an individual.

05:09Sheesh left Panera in 2017 following a $7.5 billion sale to German conglomerate JAB Holdings.

05:16In 2018, he set up Miami-based Act III Holdings, a firm wrong positions as business builders, not investors.

05:25While still leading Panera Bread, Sheesh took a small personal stake in Cava in 2015.

05:33At this time, Cava was a small chain with just two restaurants.

05:38Sheesh believed Mediterranean food would be the next big food category due to its health perception and bold flavors.

05:44Sheesh deployed about 70% of Act III's initial capital to merge Cava with Zoe's Kitchen,

05:51a rival that was about five times Cava's size but was struggling.

06:01So the best entrepreneurs look for competition.

06:05And when you see the competition, sometimes you want to add that to gain total market as well as market appeal.

06:14So by doing that, he's able to take the best elements of Zoe's Kitchen and then integrate that within Cava.

06:22When you look at Mr. Sheesh and his ability to adapt to technology when it came to the ordering on the kiosks and at the table,

06:30all that is for speed and for consistency and labor.

06:37And that's really where we're headed.

06:41The brand is doing a really great job of owning the fact that UGC is what's getting the brand out

06:47because on their socials, nothing looks like an ad.

06:50It looks like another friend that's posting about something that they're excited about.

06:55Right now, they're using every single viral trend.

06:58Sweetgreen is a fantastic concept.

07:05Nicolas Jame is a leader in the fast casual space.

07:09But what Sweetgreen doesn't have, that Cava does have, is this virality, this viral intensity and aspirational hook.

07:21It's sort of like, I don't know if anyone listening to this will remember Magnolia Bakery when it used to be,

07:28when Sex and the City first came out, there were lines around the block for these cupcakes.

07:33And it's this sense of, I have to have what she's having, you know, that will drive sales

07:40and bring people to wait in line for an hour in 104 degree heat in Midtown.

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