Jim Cramer on Why He's Adding Shares of Panera to His Portfolio Again

Jim Cramer, portfolio manager of the Action Alerts PLUS charitable trust, and research director Jack Mohr, discuss why they're reinitiating Panera Bread (PNRA). Cramer says Panera 2.0 'is definitely working'. Panera launched its 2.0 initiative last year with technological and operational improvements aimed at enhancing the customer experience. Cramer says, 'as they integrate a lot more technology, then you're going to be able to see better numbers year-over-year with a much smaller supply of stock out there.' He goes on to say, 'Panera arguably is a turnaround even though it was never really bad but they're going more natural and organic, that's really important. It's not that expensive versus historically the way Panera is and they've got a lot of raw costs coming down and gasoline is coming down.' Mohr likes that the company has been able to alleviate its huge throughput issues of the past with its improved technology that makes it easier and quicker to order. He also notes their new 'Food As It Should Be' national ad campaign launched in June. Mohr says 'you've got more traffic, you've got better throughput, you have cost saving initiatives, you have a new CFO, new management team, it's coming together, it might be a little choppy, but I think long term I really feel confident.'