St. Louis, Missouri—May 31, 2002—Panera Bread Company (Nasdaq: PNRA ) announced today that it will open its first bakery-cafes in California by 2003. Under a development agreement with a franchise group called Mariposa Bread, L.L.C, fourteen Panera Breads are to go up in northwest Los Angeles county by early next year. To accommodate the new bakery-cafes, Panera Bread plans to build a new fresh dough facility in Los Angeles in 2003.