Ever since it opened its first location in Washington, D.C.’s Georgetown neighborhood in 2007, Sweetgreen has been recognized as a fast-casual innovator. For a while, that reputation centered on tech innovation in particular, as Sweetgreen was at the leading edge of technologies such as digital and mobile ordering.
While Sweetgreen has continued to innovate around tech — notably with its automated Infinite Kitchen prototype — it’s spent the past few years reclaiming its position as a food innovator. That has included the rollout of ingredients like caramelized garlic steak and maple glazed Brussels sprouts, as well as menu platforms such as its Protein Plates.
Cofounder and chief concept officer Nicolas Jammet joined the latest episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches to talk about how Sweetgreen has leaned more into the story of its food innovation as it approaches 250 locations in 22 states, with its sights on 1,000 locations by 2030.
In this conversation, you’ll learn more about why:
- The evolving nature of convenience is affecting menu innovation
- With proper planning, restaurants can scale farmer relationships and their potential
- There is opportunity in the story of your food
- Your ingredients and your suppliers are worth celebrating
- Technology may enable innovation, but it’s food that your customers are coming for
- Automated kitchen equipment should complement the food quality
- The great American food brands find the right balance of accessibility and craveability
This episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches is brought to you by 86 Repairs, a restaurant equipment repair and maintenance solution built for operators. Stick around until the end of the episode for a bonus conversation with 86 Repairs CEO Daniel Estrada, who joined to talk about why the old way of managing repairs and maintenance is broken, and how there is a huge opportunity to improve margins by optimizing R&M.
Contact Sam Oches at [email protected].
