Just when you think corporate America has a death grip on the hearts, minds and pocket books of the American people something like Panera, the non-profit restaurant, comes long to restore your faith in humanity. I can't stop asking myself if it's too good to be true.
Affordable eating for anyone at Panera's posh sit-down restaurant is priced as pay what you please. Panera's menu has suggested prices but it's completely up to the customer what they pay. The majority of customers opt to pay full price. The remaining customers seem to be split equally between those who opt to pay more and those who opt to pay less or nothing. Somehow it all balances out making it possible for the restaurant to stay in business and consider expansion.
What is really remarkable is that this non-profit franchise is corporate owned and is apparently such a profitable success that two more restaurants will be opening. Panera plans to eventually expand its chain to operate around the country. It seems eating on the honor system appeals to people's ethics as well as their wallets. What's more I believe it gives people hope.
Panera's non-profit restaurant venture reminds me of Guru Nanak's idea of turning a profit when long ago he took money his father gave him to invest and used it to feed the hungry. Over the course of Sikh history this tradition became known as langar, or the Guru's free kitchen. Five centuries later the Guru's free kitchen is a non-profit institution which feeds millions of people around the planet every year.
It's very pleasing to imagine Panera's enjoying the same success and inspiring non-profit corporate community kitchens as way of life for centuries to come.