Why Sweetgreen's Salads Still Aren't Profitable

How Sweetgreen is trying to reinvent fast food: The popular salad chain has proven to be a hit among certain consumers but the company is battling high overhead costs and has yet to turn a profit. So what's the deal?
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0:00 Establishing Context
1:00 The Early Days
3:54 Being Different
6:18 Concerts
8:28 Expansion
10:46 Going Public
11:19 Salad Making Robot
13:13 What's Ahead?

Disclaimer: This video is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Myself and The Channel are in no way affiliated with this company.

Sweetgreen losing millions of dollars every month
Sweetgreen Established Context
Sweetgreen story
The Story of Sweetgreen
Established Context
Sweetgreen

[Brotality]

As someone who has worked in the "fast casual" restaurant industry before, sweet green actually isn't that concerning of a business proposition. Chipotle, Pollo Tropical, Qdoba, etc. bowls are probably the most similar to what sweet green is offering, all for around the same price. The fact that they are doing local food and they are investing in automation isn't a bad thing for business, and honestly, I see a future with them being as much of a staple as Starbucks is. It'll take time though. Starbucks took 30 years, and sweet green has only had 10

[abc]

The big selling point of Sweetgreen for me when I worked near one in Chicago was that their bowls were so damn big. I and my friends literally could not finish a single Sweetgreen salad in a sitting, it was at least two meals. If I had some bread at home on the side it would be three. $16 for 2-3 healthy meals is not that bad a proposition in an area where across the street they were selling a single patty hamburger with like five fries for the same price, or an ice cream for $8, or coffee for $9, a bowl of ramen for $22, or a burrito for $18 (these are all real prices on that street). And the salads were tasty and filling too, these things aren't just sad iceberg lettuce, the $16 salads have a good amount of grilled chicken or salmon and half a dozen different vegetables and croutons on various mixed greens.

I cannot ever see a Sweetgreen working as it is in rural or middle America, but in expensive urban locations among the health conscious they have a market. My biggest concern is, like Chipotle, shrinkflation will hit and they will alienate their base. But for now to the people commenting that they can't see why anyone ever buys a $15 salad, I'll at least throw in my anecdotal reasoning for why I and my friends did.

[anl]

Yeah, not giving to a tech bro restaurant any money or trust, but mark my words: in the not too distant future when absolutely everything will be automated, then the term "handmade" will become the biggest sales

[nidafarooq]

I just saw this video randomly and thought it would have thousands of views, keep up the good work!

[shubhirocksify]

not sure how youtube chose to recomend this video but it was fairly good. nice job. kudos

[RK-owzg]

The problem with salads is that I could just pack my own at a fraction of the price. I wouldn’t even have to reheat it.

[EAZ]

California and Phoenix would be good places to try opening some since it sounds like they're all on the East Coast right now

[samb.]

Very interesting, but whats concerning is that despite their increased price vs other fast food, they lose money- what is going on with their profitability? while the show that they can lose less with increased menu offers, is there a real path to profitability? It would be interesting to see where they lose money.

[therealpaulreiser]

I love how much research you put into these videos! I love Sweetgreen, I eat there whenever I find one. My only push back on this video is how you report the profit of McDonald's at 45% and Chipolte at %27.5. Those are some strange numbers... they seem too low to be gross profit and too high to be net profit... but the way you present the numbers it gives the impression that those numbers are bottom line net profit. Regardless, overall excellent video! ALSO... The video you made on Liquid death was really terrific! I feel like you are about to take off with this channel! I subscribed to follow along, good luck!

[sonhuynh]

How can a company that is losing money be valued at $3B? Can you do a video to basically explain this? Thanks 🙏🏽

[jjcandelabra]

i didn't know this company existed

Anything attached to that Kim Kardashian investing I don't go.

[Achill]

I hadn't heard of them, but my interest is piqued. There's a store in my metro area not far from us, and I plan to check out their food.

[John-bilv]

So basically they don't know how to run a business

[DirtySouthSOHK]

Why don't they just close after the lunch rush Monday-Thursday?

[iamawesome-tdmy]

Something that i really hope my generation and millennials learn is to STOP SELLING OUT11. it is the number 1 reason why things suck and monopolies are as bad as they are. and almost always the money is never worth watching your creation get ruined by greed.

[Julathegreat]

I found this interesting. Have a comment.

[dillonlavely]

There’s a place called bebebop never tried it I hear it’s good like chipotle my friend goes there a lot

[GinnyMaive]

Maybe it’s the shirt, but you look like Roy Kent

[alexandernolasco]

I work a blockchain that supports traditional farming let me know if you are iny