Although almost everything becomes more expensive, Sweetgreen’s CEO defends salads of $ 16, imploring customers to think about the long -term cost of their health

• Sweet green It is definitely one of the healthiest fast food options in the United States, but it is also one of the most expensive. The salads cost about $ 16 on average, but the CEO of the company encourages customers to think beyond the current price of a meal and, on the other hand, the long -term impacts of what you eat.

Consumers’ confidence is crying, and for a good reason. Since 2020 the prices of the goods have jumped more than 23% And there is fear around the new President Donald Trump Fare policies as well as inflation.

But a CEO is implorcing consumers to think beyond the current price of their product, promoting the long -term profits it can bring. Jonathan Neman, CEO of Sweetgreen I talked to The New York Times When you think about the cost of something, sometimes you have to think about the total cost.

“Is there the cost to you, but when you eat certain things, what is the cost to your health? What is the cost to the environment?” said Neman, who launched the rapid salad chain in the mid -2000s while studying at Georgetown University. The company became public at the end of 2021 and It now has 250 locations Through the United States, and they have aspirations Make the mark the salad starbucks.

He and his commercial partners, Nicolas Jammet and Nathaniel Ru, opened his first Sweetgreen Near the Washington Campus, DC in 2007. This was almost three years after the premiere of the documentary “Super Sale Sale Me”, which started conversations on the short and long term impacts of traditional American fast food.

“We were going to reject the rapid food of the previous generation,” Neman said Now.

But the healthiest options inevitably lead to a higher cost and then a price for consumers. Sweetgreen average salad costs about $ 16, seconds Dining roomwhile Average price of a Big Mac meal It’s about $ 10.

“People pay not only for the quality of taste in food, but also the fact that it is done by hand, the fact that we pay our farmers and our team members fairly,” said Neman Now.

However, Sweetgreen uses fresh farm ingredients and product products, and its menu is largely in vegetables, large and protein, though recently thrown Fried potatoes of fried rippings in the air that are approximately 160 less calories than the fried potatoes of McDonald. The company has also published in an advertisement that fried potatoes have only five ingredients, while competitors include an unrecognizable report of additives.

“Most companies process their foods centrally and send it to the whole country,” Neman I talked to The Wall Street Journal By 2024. “To maximize taste and freshness, we believe that food should approach where guests eat food.”

In addition, “trying” to Sweetgreen could end up being cheaper than buying groceries: Take —To of the above Fortune Reporter Jane Thier. It Average monthly cost of groceries For a single person is $ 504, they show BLS data.

Sweetgreen did not respond immediately FortuneThe request for additional comments.

Although the company’s profits were up to $ 677 million for 2024 financial year, according to Sweetgreen’s Most recent results reportHe still faced a net loss of about $ 90 million. If we assume an average $ 16 price for a Sweetgreen salad, the company loses about $ 2.26 for lunch, to Sherwood News analysis showed. Some of the highest costs include food, drinks, packaging, labor and administrative costs, according to the results report.

Another important cost to Sweetgreen has been to invest in technology to feed their collection, deliveries and IA services to provide suggestions to customers and maintain their loyalty program.

“Our path to profitability in a clean way comes from some levers,” said Neman WSJ. “The first continues to grow our footprint. Secondly, sales grow in existing stores. The third is very disciplined in our cost structure to ensure that the incremental benefit we are obtained flows through the bottom line.”

Sweet green Will report First quarter of tax gains of 2025 on May 8.

This story originally presented to Fortune.com

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