Panera Goes Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month

The Panera Bread Pink Ribbon bagel is back.

Throughout the month of October, metro Detroit bakery-cafes—including those in the Dearborn area—will sell the bagels in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

The signature bagel has raised more than $1.25 million for breast cancer charities nationwide in the 11 years of Panera' involvement with the cause.

Panera Cares in Dearborn will carry the Pink Ribbon bagel, but will not be taking donations due to the cafe's pay-what-you-can model of business, according to Panera representatives.

The Panera Cafe at 26580 Ford Road in Dearborn Heights, as well as the location at 3112 Fairlane Drive in Allen Park, will carry the bagels and be collecting donations.

In participating Panera bakery-cafes in the metro Detroit-area, funds will be donated to the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.

“The Pink Ribbon Bagel has been a customer favorite for over a decade, in part because it’s a tasty way to add flavor to the day and because each bagel sold helps support the fight against an illness that touches so many,” said Lee Carmona, director of operations, Great Lakes, Panera Bread.

Shaped in the form of the iconic pink ribbon, the Pink Ribbon Bagel features cherry chips, dried cherries and cranberries, vanilla, honey, and brown sugar, and is baked fresh each morning by Panera’s bakers at each bakery-cafe. Nearly two million Pink Ribbon Bagels were sold in 2011, raising more than $250,000 for charity.

The Pink Ribbon Bagel concept began in 2001 when Sue Stees, co-owner of 18 Panera Bread franchises and a breast cancer survivor, began searching for ways to help other women fighting the same disease. Her search led her to the kitchen where she developed the Pink Ribbon Bagel.

She sold 27,000 bagels in her bakery-cafes that first year and was awarded the “You Can Make a Difference Award” from Susan G. Komen for the Cure. To date, more than eight million Pink Ribbon Bagels have been sold.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine this simple bagel concept – created in my Tulsa bakery-cafe—would grow to where it is today, educating the community on breast cancer and inspiring those who are fighting this disease,” Stees said. “I’m extremely blessed to have survived to see the Pink Ribbon Bagel make such an impact over more than a decade.”