How Just Salad innovates around sustainabilityHow Just Salad innovates around sustainability

This week on Extra Serving, a podcast from Nation’s Restaurants News, editor-in-chief Sam Oches sits down with Just Salad supply chain and sustainability manager Alex Harden to talk about the brand’s innovation around sustainable operations and packaging.

This interview, conducted on the floor of the recent National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago, uncovers why Just Salad is so committed to sustainable operations, how it’s successfully rolled out platforms like reuseable bowls and menu carbon labeling, and how it markets those efforts to customers at its nearly 80 locations.

New York City-based Just Salad, one of the 100 Under 100 emerging restaurant brands in 2024, isn’t quite two decades old, but has been on a tear post-pandemic. In 2023, the fast-casual chain saw an 87.5% increase in same-store sales with only 25% unit-count growth, according to Technomic. AUVs are around $2.2 million at the chain’s 75 units, and recently the restaurant has been venturing into the suburbs.