Paris Baguette Breaks Bread and Barriers, Partners To Support Neighborhood Food Security

Paris Baguette, the global bakery café franchise with over 150 cafés across the U.S., has established themself as the go-to neighborhood bakery café in the markets they enter. With breads, cakes and pastries baked fresh each day, handcrafted beverages and delicious grab-and-go options, the brand has unique offerings that nod to the selection available at small-town, neighborhood cafés. Paris Baguette has managed to avoid shifting toward mass production and pre-packaged items as they have scaled — a trap that many big-box cafés have been unable to avoid — and they are also keeping things fresh and local through charitable partnerships and opportunities to give back. 

More than just a neighborhood hub, the brand has established themself as a key player in the dynamic neighborhoods they occupy and is taking their presence beyond the four walls of the café. This holiday season, the brand is reaching out in New York, one of their major markets with a high concentration of cafés, in partnership with City Harvest.

“One of our big initiatives for the second half of this year and beyond is to work with donor partners to support those who are fighting hunger,” said Nick Scaccio, vice president of operations. “We’ve partnered with City Harvest in the New York market for a donation program. Goods that would have potentially been food waste are picked up from our New York City locations daily and distributed to those who need it.”

“Nourishing Community” Beyond the Café

One of Paris Baguette’s core values is “Nourish Community,” which they describe as “fostering connections, building community and making people’s days a little brighter, any way we can.” In conjunction with their other values — Have Heart, Rise to the Occasion and Spread Joy, this partnership just makes sense.

“Working with City Harvest fits right in line with our brand values,” said Scaccio. “We took on a lot of the work, alongside the City Harvest team, that is required to make sure that the partnership fits and logistics are managed. We wanted to build a foundation for a successful partnership, and once we did, we were able to pilot the program. It went very well in a select few New York City cafés, so we were able to scale it to the rest of the cafés in the New York City market.”

In New York alone, this effort is incredibly impactful. According to City Harvest, over 1 million New Yorkers struggle to feed themselves and their families, and one in five New York children experience food insecurity. Yet, the United Nations reports that about 17% of global food production is wasted between homes, restaurants and retail settings; in New York, this translates to millions of pounds of food and organic waste each day. There is a major need, and Paris Baguette is digging deep in the neighborhood, partnering with their own local owners and neighborhood organizations to alleviate some of the demand.

“We’re super excited that the initial partnership has worked so well, and our franchise community has been incredibly adoptive of the initial program,” said Scaccio. “Our teams even share with the guests that we’re working with City Harvest, and it has become an active dialogue between our front-line team members and our guests. Everyone is so proud to be making a social impact within our organization.”

Paris Baguette’s “Love Baked In” Initiative Spreads Joy and Neighborhood Connection Nationwide

After seeing the benefit the City Harvest partnership has provided, both to those dealing with food insecurity and other members of the neighborhood who feel uplifted and proud to be a part of such an effort, the team is working to expand the effort further. Scaccio has met with national partners to discuss establishing giving programs associated with cafés across the nation, supporting neighborhood charitable organizations and offering support to those who are in need of food.

“The first leg of this effort was to support the New York market, and now that that’s been implemented successfully, and we’re seeing great results, it’s time for us to work toward scaling nationally with another partner,” he said.

While Paris Baguette’s food donations are already making an impact, alleviating a wide-reaching pain point for café neighborhoods in New York, this effort is just one prong of the system’s larger “Love Baked In” philosophy. 

Paris Baguette believes that all neighborhoods are improved when people come together through charitable programs and initiatives, and they encourage individual franchise owners to help neighbors in need in accordance with their specific circumstances. For example, each café donates partial proceeds from the annual sales of a predetermined baked good to a neighborhood charity, and a special Cake Day boosts this contribution with all proceeds from cake sales going directly to that same charity. Franchise owners also have an opportunity to surprise neighborhood children in need with extra special cakes, bringing joy and excitement to those who need it most.

With nationwide food donation partnerships in the works and a Dough Raisers fundraising model coming soon, Paris Baguette is only doubling down on their community impact, further integrating themself in the markets they enter to continue growing as a true neighborhood bakery café.

Learn more about how Paris Baguette gives back at https://www.parisbaguette.com/love-baked-in/.

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