When Jonathan Neman was a student at Georgetown in the mid -2000s, he and some friends wanted to start a restaurant. A fast food restaurant, but it would be healthy. And fresh.
The documentary “Super Size” had made waves, and “we were going to reject the fast food of the previous generation,” said Neman.
He and his commercial partners, Nicolas Jammet and Nathaniel Ru, opened the first Sweetgreen in 2007, on the edge of the campus in M Street in Washington. As they expanded, they decided against the brand franchise, maintaining control of each new location. It soon became a brand of millenary lifestyle. He sponsored an annual music festival. It was made public at the end of 2021.
Sweetgreen now has more than 250 restaurants in the United States. The chain is known for its customizable Endlesly salads, and for the speed with which the cost of all those additional ingredients and dressings can add. (A lunch recently cost me $ 16.28).
The company also executes a growing number of locations that include what calls infinite cuisine, with robots that covers salads that assemble bowls faster than human workers.
With a large fanfare, Sweetgreen recently put fried potatoes in your fried menu in avocado oil, so that customers feel better when adding one side of carbohydrates to a salad. Much of its food is obtained locally, including California avocados, which will limit the blow that the company adopts tariffs, executives told investors.
And Sweetgreen does not attend only to office workers who eat salads in their desks. Mr. Neman, 40, said Hears Heard that teenagers were “obsessed” with salads, which was the case when Sweetgreen began. “The fact that they think that eating healthy is great is something we imagine,” he said in his office in Los Angeles, where the company is now.
Back in Washington, the Trump administration is also thinking about what enters food. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the standard bearer of the “Make America Healthy Again” movement, recently said that “sugar is poison” and pressed to ban artificial dyes in food.
Some of those objectives resonated with Mr. Neman, whose company worked with the “Let’s Move” campaign of former Lady Michelle Obama. But he, like many other company leaders, is trying to talk about the company’s priorities (such as eliminating seed oils) without reaching the polarized policy of the moment.
“We say that we are not red or blue, but we are green,” he said.
This interview was condensed and edited by clarity.
Sweetgreen are healthy ingredients. Now, there is the “Make America Healthy Again” movement and RFK Jr. pressing to ban artificial dyes in food. What do you think about that?
As you go to “Make America Healthy”, Divert Story: in 2016, duration of a festival, we had a campaign that was a joke, a play in “Make America Great Again”. We made hats “Make America Healy Again”.
Wow.
We are in the team of anyone who wants to help the United States is healthier. In the days of the administration of Obama, we associate ourselves very closely with Michelle Obama.
With RFK Jr., I will talk to the parties related to our world. I think bringing more transparency to our food system is excellent. I think some of those dyes are bathroom. Sweetgreen has never sold soda very intentionally. We would groat much more money if we did. Many people would like to do it. We have never done it and I don’t think he will.
We don’t like to get involved in the rest. Therefore, we are not trying to insert Ourelves Politicians, either personally or as a brand.
Have you communicated with the White House on healthy foods?
We carry it directly involved at this point. But if there is a place to help you, we are totally willing to do it.
There are bone Cortes in food and food administrationwho exaggerates food security. Do you have any concern about food security in the United States at this time?
I think some of the things I’ve seen could be a bit alarming. Others seem great.
What are the things that group you?
I must be careful to have certain guards around food security, for example. And be careful that there is no impact of Adverk to move too fast. But in general, I believe that more transparency around the food system, promotion, more real foods, getting rid of the artificial chemical thesis that are allowed in our food and eliminating any conflict of interest in people who regulate our foods are good things.
Let’s talk about robots. Will they help with profitability?
Absolutely. So, what we have seen is at the store level, the infinite kitchen adds at least seven margin points. So, if you look at our store, right now we are a margin business of approximately 20 percent. An infinite kitchen store must be at least seven points better.
So, as more robots make more salads, can people expect prices to go down?
We are very aware of making sure that SweetGreen can be something for everyone. I think that automation gives it a coverage as work costs continue to increase, in order to generate more value and sacrifice it to our client.
How much is too much to pay a salad?
I really deepen what you put in him. When you think about the cost of something, sometimes you should think about the total cost. There is cost for you, but when you eat certain things, what is the cost for your health? What is the cost for the environment? People pay not only for the quality of the taste in food, but for the fact that it is handmade, the fact that we pay our farmers and the members of our team fairly.
What is your background history? Tell me about your parents and grow in Los Angeles.
My parents emigrated here in 1979. They were Iranian Jews who arrived at the Revolution. And that was a great part of my story when I grow because I think of how fragile their life and their reality can be.
I am the oldest of four boys. Being Jewish is a great part of my identity. I have always been very connected to Israel and my Jewish faith and my great family.
My dad has four brothers. Each one has four children, so 20 cousins. Shabbat every Friday. Many of us, the Persian Jews came to Los Angeles, that time.
Entrepreneurship is really a part of culture. Growing up, I knew very few people who worked for large companies. They all owned small businesses in some way. My dad and his brothers worked together. They started a textile business.
I always knew that I wanted to be in business. From an early age, my dad led me to work with him. One of my first memories was that I am because to put a suit, because he put on a suit, and go to his factory and walk.
You had this large network of entrepreneurs. Were you calling your dad?
I had many mentors in the community, including my dad. It was always and continues. I always give my dad a lot because I don’t think I expected to go to Georgetown and then, as, a small salad hut begins.
How was it an entrepreneur in Washington at that time?
The business spirit has become much more sexy in the last 20 years. At that time, special in Georgetown, that was not culture. The good thing was to get a job in the government or consulting or bank.
They accepted what I thought was the work of my dreams, in Bain & Company, the consulting firm.
I would have had to leave the restaurant was in operation. I talked to my partners, like what should I do? Should I stay? Should I go? As for: “It’s a restaurant now. Why don’t you go and get these skills and then see what happens?” I went and realized that the consultancy was not really for me, especially after being an entrepreneur.
Finally, it was actually a conversation with someone in Bain. I always remember this conversation because he says: “Listen, you have two great opportunities to run huge risks in your life. One is now. The other is after your children are out of school. You have nothing to worry about at this time. “
I remembered this phrase: “You can’t fall from the floor.”
Ray Round time. Do you have any secret Sweetgreen menu advice?
The great unlock for the secret menu is the mixture of dressings. Putting two, like the spicy anacardo with a green goddess. You have this completely different experience.
Do you use AI? If so, what was the last question you asked a bot?
I use a lot. The last thing I did was not something of work. It was personal. I have two children, a 2 year old and 4 years old. I put a photo of them and asked how they will see when they grow up. My mind has flown because I can’t see it now.
What other CEO do you admire?
I always admired Howard Schultz. I think what he did in Starbucks was incredible.
Do you work on a plane or salts?
I work hard on the plane. It is this incredible quiet moment in which I can do a lot of work that I cannot do every day.
How does your emails start?
Usually, only “Jn”. If it is a more inspiring message, I will write “Onard.”
