Sweetgreen

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Sweetgreen, Inc.
Sweetgreen
TypePublic
NYSE: SG
IndustryRestaurants
GenreFast casual
FoundedAugust 2007; 14 years ago (2007-08)
FoundersNicolas Jammet
Nathaniel Ru
Jonathan Neman[1][2]
Headquarters
Culver City, California
,
U.S.
Number of locations
140 (2021)
Area served
California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Texas, Florida, Indiana, and the District of Columbia
ProductsSalads
RevenueUS $300 million Increase (2019 [3])
Number of employees
Over 5,000 (2021)
Websitesweetgreen.com
Nicolas Jammet and Jonathan Neman in front of their Dupont Circle Sweetgreen restaurant, 2014

Sweetgreen (legally Sweetgreen, Inc., stylized as sweetgreen, previously swɘetgreen) is an American fast casual restaurant chain that serves salads. It was founded in August 2007 by Nicolas Jammet, Nathaniel Ru, and Jonathan Neman, three months after they graduated from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University.[4] Sweetgreen's corporate headquarters moved to the Los Angeles area from Washington, D.C., in 2016.[5] As of May 2021, it had 122 stores in operation in twelve states across the United States, including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Texas, Florida and the District of Columbia, with a location opening soon in Indiana. [6][7] The company has over 4,000 employees.[8]

Customers can order in-store or through their app for pickup, delivery and outpost as well as use their app to pay for in-store ordering (scan to pay). They are also on various marketplaces.[9]

In November 2018, it was announced that Sweetgreen had raised US$200 million in funding.[10] Sweetgreen was named one of the Most Innovative Companies in 2019[11] and 2020,[12] and won the 2020 Webby Award for Food & Drink in the category Apps, Mobile & Voice.[13]

Menu and digital app[]

Sweetgreen's seasonal menu is a rotation of three regional, seasonal dishes in each market.[14]

Sweetgreen serves up a variety of salads, warm bowls, plates, sides, and shareables. Their seasonal menu rotates 5 times a year, based on seasonality, and location[15] – offering customers a variety of fresh produce in their peak ripeness throughout the year. Some of the most popular menu items include the Kale Caesar and the Harvest Bowl.[16]

In January 2021, Sweetgreen announced the launch of its popular Crispy Chicken Salad.[17] To celebrate, the fast casual restaurant teamed up with Peloton instructor and TEDx speaker Ally Love, YouTuber and live streamer Valkyrae,[18] and viral Houston Ballet Soloist Harper Watters to create their own custom crispy collections which were only available through the mobile app.

Sweetgreen has invested heavily into their app experience. The brand launched their mobile app in 2015,[19] and has continued to update the experience for customers. App features include ordering ahead of time, selecting dietary restrictions, ability to share nutritional info from the Sweetgreen app to Apple's health app, and paying with the app. In May 2020, the brand added order status tracking and push notifications in real time, allowing the customers to know exactly when their order is received, being prepared, and ready for pickup.[20]

In January 2020, Sweetgreen launched its own native delivery service within their app.[15] Customers can order Sweetgreen for delivery through the brand's own mobile app and website.

Acquisitions[]

In August 2021, Sweetgreen announced its plans to acquire Massachusetts Institute of Technology startup, Spyce, a Boston-based restaurant that uses service robots to prepare meals. The merger is expected to assist employees by improving speed of the order as well as consistency in salad preparation. The system will also allow the staff to focus on hospitality and basic preparation.[21]

Collaborations[]

Naomi Osaka[]

In May 2021, Sweetgreen announced their first-ever national athlete ambassador and their youngest investor to date, tennis player Naomi Osaka. The partnership also marks the first food collaboration for Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam singles champion, and a longtime Sweetgreen customer. Osaka worked with Sweetgreen's culinary team to design a custom bowl available via the Sweetgreen app. The Naomi Osaka Bowl features warm quinoa, baby spinach, cilantro, tomato, tortilla chips, raw carrots, goat cheese, blackened chicken, lime-cilantro jalapeño vinaigrette, avocado, and Sweetgreen hot sauce. In celebration of their partnership, Sweetgreen and Naomi, jointly supported The Asian American Foundation in their effort to advance equity in the AAPI community.[22][23]

David Chang[]

Sweetgreen collaborated with David Chang of Momofuku to create a new salad dressing that was featured in the New York locations during the summer of 2014. The "Hozon Salad" used Momofuku's sunflower hosanna in the dressing on a bowl of kale, sunflower sprouts, kale, roasted chicken, onions, carrots, cucumbers, missed seeds and basil.[24]

In February 2020, Sweetgreen partnered with David Chang to launch the Tingly Sweet Potato and Kelp Bowl. The collaboration brought business to the Maine economy, whose lobstermen's catch was down 40% in 2019 and raised awareness of ocean acidification and its effects on marine life through the use of sustainable kelp. The bowl featured kale, marinated kelp, seasoned white sweet potato, roasted chicken, tomatoes, cabbage, wild rice, a lime-cashew dressing, and two seasoning blends, including Momofuku's Tingly Seasoned Salt.[25]

Dan Barber and Blue Hill[]

In the summer of 2015 Sweetgreen partnered with Chef Dan Barber to create Blue Hill's "wastED" salad which used food scraps that are commonly thrown away. The purpose of the collaboration was to teach consumers about the country's food waste problem and encourage people to use plant parts that are often "wasted."[26]

Jon and Vinny[]

Upon entering the Los Angeles market in 2015, Sweetgreen teamed up with the chef duo Jon and Vinny to create the "Za'atar Salad." A portion of the sales went directly to support the local partner for Sweetgreen in schools.[27]

Kendrick Lamar[]

In 2015, in the lead up to the Sweetlife music festival, Sweetgreen collaborated with musician Kendrick Lamar leading up to his second appearance at the sweetlife music festival. The salad, named "Beets Don't Kale My Vibe," was a pun playing off one of Lamar's most well known lyrics. The collaboration resulted in over 100 articles featuring the salad, and 10% of proceeds from the salad went to FoodCorps to connect kids to real food.[28]

Mark Bittman[]

Cookbook author and New York Times columnist Mark Bittman worked with Sweetgreen in the spring of 2014 to create the April VB6 Salad. Bittman created the VB6 diet where you eat only vegan before 6pm in order to lose weight and "restore health."[29]

Nancy Silverton[]

James Beard Award Winning Chef, Nancy Silverton, partnered with Sweetgreen to create a limited edition chopped salad for the brand in 2018. Her famous recipe includes radicchio, chickpeas, pepperoncini, provolone, and salami.[30]

Michael Solomonov[]

In 2017, the fast-casual chain teamed up with Michael Solomonov to create the Zahav Bowl – a bowl exclusively available for the Philadelphia area. The bowl was a mix of hot chickpeas, kale, turmeric roasted cauliflower, roasted chicken, shredded carrots, almonds, and Sweetgreen's housemade Hot Sauce. The bowl was finished with two toppings developed by Solomonov: dill and mint combo and a lemon dill tahini dressing.[31]

Danny Bowein[]

The Mission Chinese Food owner collaborated with Sweetgreen for a limited time ‘Tiger Bowl’ in 2017. The bowl included organic spinach, organic wild rice, shiso, shredded carrots, cucumbers, spicy sunflower seeds, pears, kimchi, sesame roasted tofu, nori furikake, and savory tiger dressing.[32]

Liz Prueitt[]

Tartine Manufactory's Liz Prueitt teamed up with the fast casual brand in 2017 to create a ‘purple saturated’ bowl with purple carrots, baby greens, romaine, raw peppers, shaved radish, raw beets, goat cheese, basil, and hemp seeds dressed with an apple cider vinaigrette.

Ken Oringer[]

In 2017, Ken Oringer brought the ‘Toro Bowl’ to Sweetgreen's Boston locations. Inspired by the Spanish flavor combinations at Oringer's South End restaurant Toro, the bowl featured quinoa, hot chickpeas, kale, roasted potatoes, radishes, basil, lemon, and feta cheese. It also comes with two new items he developed specifically for Sweetgreen: a jalapeño yogurt dressing and roasted corn with tomatoes and jalapeños.[33]

Chris Shepherd[]

Upon opening in Houston in 2019, Sweetgreen partnered with James Beard Award winner Chris Shepherd to create the Southern Chop Bowl. A riff on the classic Caesar, the salad featured blackened chicken thighs, apples, raw corn, tomatoes, shredded cabbage, red onions, organic arugula, chopped romaine, pimento cheese, pecans, topped with a vinaigrette.[34]

Funding[]

Sweetgreen raised its initial $375,000 of startup funding from investors including the three founders' parents, Joe Bastianich, Seth Goldman, and Washington's Latino Economic Development Center.[4][35] In 2013, it accepted a $22 million investment from Revolution Growth, a venture capital fund founded by Steve Case.[36] In 2014, it received $18.5 million in investment from Revolution Growth. In 2015, it raised an additional $35 million in investment under the lead of T. Rowe Price with contributions from existing investor Revolution Growth.[37] The company has raised over $95 million to date.

In 2018 the startup raised a $200 million Series H round led by Fidelity that valued the company at more than $1 billion, and bringing Sweetgreen's total amount of funding to $365 million.[38] In the fall of 2019, Sweetgreen raised an additional $150 million Series I round led by Lone Pine Capital and D1 Capital Partners, bringing the company's total valuation to $1.6 billion.[39]

In July 2021 Axios reported that Sweetgreen had filed confidentially for an IPO.[40] It became a public company on 18 November 2021 traded under the New York Stock Exchange symbol SG.

Social actions[]

During the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, sweetgreen announced the launch of the sweetgreen Impact Outpost Fund in partnership with World Central Kitchen to deliver free meals to hospital workers on the frontlines.[41] In 2020, the company served more than 400,000 meals to over 400 hospitals nationwide.[42]

Sweetgreen made it easier for employees to vote in the 2020 election by providing up to 3 hours of paid time off for all hourly employees[43] to either vote early or vote on election day. The chain also created a registration portal and QR code in partnership with When We All Vote, making it easier for team members to register.

In 2019, sweetgreen partnered with FoodCorps,[44] a national nonprofit dedicated to connecting kids to healthy food in schools to further food education. Sweetgreen committed $1 million over two years to support FoodCorps’ hands-on gardening and cooking classes, as well as pilot programs to introduce kids to real food in innovative ways such as flavor bars and taste tests, amplify student choice and voice, and reimagine the school cafeteria environment.[45]

In 2018, sweetgreen partnered with Hank's Mini Market, a family-owned corner store in L.A.’s Hyde Park neighborhood, a known food desert, to help bring healthier options to its customers as part of their work to expand food access.[46]

Sweetlife Festival[]

Sweetlife Food and Music Festival 2015, Merriweather Post Pavilion – Columbia, MD

Between 2011 and 2016, Sweetgreen hosted an annual music and food festival at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland.[47]

Headliners[]

  • 2016: The 1975, Halsey, Flume
  • 2015: Kendrick Lamar, Calvin Harris, The Weeknd
  • 2014: Lana Del Rey, Foster the People
  • 2013: Phoenix, Passion Pit, Kendrick Lamar, Yeah Yeah Yeahs
  • 2012: Avicii, Kid Cudi, The Shins
  • 2011: The Strokes, Girl Talk, Lupe Fiasco

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External links[]

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