Act III Holdings is the personal investment firm of Ron Shaich, Panera Bread's founder and former CEO, who uses it to take founder-friendly stakes in fast-casual and bakery-café brands he believes can scale nationally. It backed Cava's 2018 acquisition of Zoë's Kitchen and remains a pre-IPO investor there, with Shaich chairing Cava's board; it also previously owned Clover Food Lab.
2 companies on Ferret
Cava
Dining · 459+ locations — Two of Cava's three Greek-American founders still shape the food at this 450-plus-location chain. Separately, the company paid $1.4M to settle NYC findings that it violated Fair Workweek scheduling law, affecting roughly 1,200 workers.
Tatte Bakery & Café
Dining · 54+ locations — People assume this is a beloved Boston bakery still run by its founder. Since 2016, former Panera CEO Ron Shaich has held majority control through his investment firm, and Tzurit Or now oversees food and design rather than the business itself.
Firm data last updated August 2026