ST. LOUIS—Panera is giving away two months of free membership to its Unlimited Sip Club. Customers who sign up for Unlimited Sip Club now through May 18 will receive a free membership to the monthly Unlimited Sip Club program through July 4, as well as be entered for a chance to win an upgraded Annual Unlimited Sip Club membership.
Panera’s Unlimited Sip Club members have access to Panera’s self-serve beverages, including hot and iced coffee, hot and iced teas, agave lemonade, Panera’s Charged Lemonades and Pepsi-branded fountain beverages. The subscription costs $11.99 per month plus tax or $119.99 per year plus tax and includes one self-serve beverage every two hours during regular bakery-cafe hours, including free refills at participating U.S. Panera bakery-cafes.
“Our guests love Unlimited Sip Club, and we are thrilled to jumpstart summer with free, unlimited beverages for our guests through July 4,” said Meenakshi Nagarajan, senior vice president, digital, subscription and loyalty, Panera Bread. “Our Unlimited Sip Club has a wide variety of options for you at an incredible value, whether you are hitting the runway or headed to the beach, Panera has you covered with free sips through July 4 when you sign up by May 18.”
NBA player Kyle Kuzuma has partnered with Panera to promote the program.
“I’m excited to be partnering with Panera and Starry on this unique opportunity to bring something special to customers this summer,” said Kuzma. “I’m constantly on the road, and this is an easy, reliable option for people on the go to have unlimited drink choices and receive some pretty cool perks along the way.”
Panera’s unlimited coffee subscription program was launched in February 2020, and Panera CEO Niren Chaudhary says that program members buy coffee eight times as frequently as other customers, and 30% of the time, they add food to accompany their drinks. Compared to customers who don’t participate in the MyPanera loyalty program, which has 45 million members, coffee subscribers spent up to 11 times as much money in 2021.
“When the beverage is no longer a barrier, customers are attracted to our best-in-class food,” Chaudhary told the Boston Globe in an article.
The company says the new benefit is rooted in MyPanera's relationship-based loyalty program, where rather than a transactional points system, members are rewarded based on frequency of visits, spend and their individual purchases and preferences.