Interesting read about the economics of Sweetgreen salad. I have them when I am traveling for work but would never spend my own money their over-priced salad. But as crazy as the numbers sound to the customer paying out of pocket, it still does not put Sweetgreen in the green
Interestingly, the cost of the actual food, drinks, and packaging is only a fraction (about $4.15 out of $15 in our example) of the final sale price. Labor costs take another $4.35 bite out of the earnings, and then rent, property costs, and other expenses swallow $3.78. Those total costs tally just over $12 — great! Sweetgreen’s restaurant operations, in isolation, are very profitable for a food service business… but, of course, there are overheads to consider. Those overheads take Sweetgreen well into the red.
The price seems to be what they have decided the customer will tolerate so deploying robots and holding that price and adding even more expensive options is the way they get to be profitable. Something they are doing is obviously right even if the price feels so very wrong.
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