The value-perception problem in fast casual

Nicolas analyzes inflation-era consumer pullback and the need to communicate Sweetgreen's unique value.

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Today Sammi sits down with Nicolas Jammet, co-founder and Chief Concept Officer of Sweetgreen—the fast-casual brand that helped take “healthy food at scale” from a niche idea to a national movement with nearly 300 stores and a $5.5B IPO. Nicolas traces Sweetgreen’s origin story from Georgetown campus chaos (including a stolen laptop that nearly derailed opening week), to a three-founder partnership that has stayed intact for almost two decades, to taking the company public at the literal peak of the market in 2021.

Then they zoom out to the bigger game: how Sweetgreen thinks about trend forecasting in food, why fast-casual is facing price-value pressure, and what it really takes to balance quality with consumer sensitivity in a $16-salad world. Nicolas explains how Sweetgreen is using feedback, loyalty, and automation to define the future of fast food—including the Infinite Kitchen, the new drive-thru format, and the viral max-protein bowl that set off a macro-counting frenzy online.

They also get into brand strategy and culture: why Sweetgreen doesn’t have a Coke or Pepsi contract, how “food as storytelling” became a competitive moat, and how the Sweetlife Festival helped turn a salad shop into a cultural brand.

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Here’s what Sammi covers with Nicolas:

00:00 Nicolas Jammet’s Social Currency

01:11 Early days and Stolen Laptops

08:47 How Three Co-Founders Stayed Together for Nearly 2 Decades

12:51 Behind the Scenes of the $5.5B IPO

14:38 The Chief Concept Officer Job Description

16:34 Trend Forecasting & the Kale/Avocado Glow-Up

22:56 The Price-Value Question in Fast Casual

24:27 Getting Customer Feedback