CLAYTON, MO - A year-old Panera Bread experiment is proving to be a success, the Associated Press reports.

Panera founder and Chairman Ronald Shaich said the pay-as-you-go caf̩s, operated by the company۪s charitable foundation, are resonating with consumers who have proven quite charitable and generous.

"We were doing this for ourselves to see if we could make a difference with our own hands, not just write a check, but really make a contribution to the community in a real, substantive way," Shaich said.

Panera said roughly 60 percent of guests leave the suggested retail amount, with 20 percent leaving more and 20 percent leaving less.

"From the day it opened, the community has just gotten stronger and stronger in their support of this," Shaich said. "They got that this was a café of shared responsibility."

Everything the three current cafés in Clayton, Portland and Dearborn, Michigan, resemble a typical Panera, except a greeter explains the payment method to visitors and a menu board lists "suggested funding levels" instead of prices.

Shaich said the pay-what-you-want model should encourage other businesses to put their faith in humanity. "The lesson here is most people are fundamentally good," he said. "People step up and they do the right thing."