It’s one of the great questions of our modern age: How does Sweetgreen lose money selling $14 (and up!) fast casual salads and bowls? And not just a little money but $442 million in the last three and a half years and more than $908 million since 2014. 

Sweetgreen is having a disastrous 2025, with same-store sales down 7.6% in the second quarter after a Q1 drop of 3.1%, and a now aborted rollout of fries (how do you mess up fries?). Investors are fleeing the stock, sending it down more than 70% this year. No one has ever grown a salad chain to Sweetgreen’s size, with 260-plus restaurants and 2025 revenue tracking to more than $700 million. But if the company is to achieve its lofty goals, 1,000 locations mainstreaming its healthy and sustainable ethos, it’s time for the three founders—CEO

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