When Jonathan Neman was a student in Georgetown in the mid-2000s, he and some friends wanted to start a restaurant. It's a fast food restaurant, but it's healthy. And it's cool.
The documentary “Super Size Me” made waves, and “we were going to reject the previous generation of fast food,” Nieman said.
He and his business partners, Nicholas Jammett and Nathaniel Lou, opened their first sweet green in 2007 on the edge of the campus on M Street in Washington. As they expanded, they opposed the brand's franchise and continued to control all new locations. Soon it became a bustling millennial lifestyle brand. We sponsored the annual music festival. It was released in the second half of 2021.
SweetGreen currently has over 250 restaurants across the US. The chain is known for its infinitely customizable salads and how quickly the cost of all of them extra toppings and dressings is. (Recent lunches cost $16.28.)
The company also operates more and more locations, including what is called the Infinite Kitchen, with salad sling robots that assemble bowls faster than human workers.
With a great fanfare, SweetGreen recently put French fries on the menu. Air-fried with avocado oil makes customers feel good about adding carbs to their salads. Much of that food is sourced locally, including California avocados. This limits the hits that companies receive tariffs, executives have told investors.
Also, SweetGreen is not only suitable for office workers who eat salads at their desks. Neman, 40, said he heard teenagers were “famous” with salads, but this wasn't when sweet greens began. “The fact that they think healthy eating is cool is what we imagined,” he said in his office in Los Angeles.
Back in Washington, the Trump administration is also thinking about what will be in the food. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the standard bearer of the “Make America Healthy” movement, has recently been pushed to prohibit artificial dyes in foods by declaring “sugar is poison.”
Some of these objectives resonate with Neman, who works with former Michelle Obama's “Let's Move” campaign. But like many other company leaders, he is trying to talk about company priorities (e.g., eliminating seed oil) without being drawn into the polarization politics of the time.
“We say it's not red, blue, or blue, but we're green,” he said.
This interview was condensed and edited for clarity.
SweetGreen is all about healthy ingredients. Now, the “Make America Healthy Again” movement and RFK Jr. push forward to ban artificial dyes in food. What do you think about that?
In 2016, the festival had a play called “Make America Great Again,” a jokey campaign, “Make America Great Again.” We made hats that “make America healthy again.”
oh.
We are in a team of people who want to make America healthier. During the Obama administration, we partnered very closely with Michelle Obama.
With RFK Jr., we talk to parts related to our world. I think it's great to bring more transparency to our food system. I think some of those dyes are bad. SweetGreen has never intentionally sold soda. If so, I'd make more money. A lot of people want what we did. We never have and I don't think I would.
I don't like to participate in the rest. So we are not trying to insert ourselves politically, either personally or as a brand.
Have you communicated with the White House about health foods?
I'm not directly involved at this point. But if there is a place to help, we keep it perfectly.
Food and Drug Administration has reduced food safety supervision. Are you worried about US food safety right now?
I think some of the things I've seen might be a bit surprising. Others seem wonderful.
What does it relate to you?
For example, I would like to pay attention to certain food safety guardrails. Also, be aware that moving too fast will not affect your movement. But overall, I think it's all good to promote more transparency, more realistic foods around the food system, remove these artificial chemicals that are permitted in our food, and remove conflicts of interest among those who regulate our food.
Let's talk about robots. Do they help profitability?
absolutely. So what we saw is the store level, and the endless kitchen adds at least 7 points of margin. So, looking at our store, it's now a margin business of about 20%. Infinite Kitchen Store should be better at least 7 points.
So, can people expect prices to go down as more robots make more salads?
We are very conscious of making sure that sweet greens are something for everyone. I think automation will give us a hedge as labor costs continue to increase, and we can promote more value and provide it to our customers.
How much do I pay for a salad?
It really depends on what you put in it. When you think about the cost of something, you need to think about the total cost. You have a cost, but what does eating certain things cost to your health? What is the cost to the environment? People pay not only for the quality of the food taste, but also for the fact that it is made by hand, the fact that it pays quite a bit to the farmers and team members.
What's the story about your back? Tell us about growing up in Los Angeles with your parents.
My parents moved here in 1979. They were Iranian Jews who came during the revolution. And it was a big part of my story as I was thinking about how vulnerable your life and reality are.
I am the oldest of the four boys. Being Jewish is a big part of my identity. I have always been very connected to Israel and my Jewish faith and extended family.
My father has four brothers. They each have four children, so they have 20 cousins. Shabbat every Friday. Meanwhile, many Persian Jews came to Los Angeles.
Entrepreneurship is truly a part of the culture. Few people grew up and worked for large companies. Everyone was, in some way, the owner of a small business. My father and his brother worked together. They started a textile business.
I always wanted to be a business. From a very young age, my father took me with him. One of my first memories was that he wanted to wear a suit and go to the factory to walk around.
During the startup process, we had this amazing network of entrepreneurs. Have you called your dad?
There were many mentors in the community, including my dad. It has always been and is still the case today. I always give my dad a lot of trust. Because I don't think he was expecting me to go to Georgetown and then start a small salad shed.
What was it like becoming an entrepreneur in Washington at the time?
Entrepreneurship has been much sexier over the past 20 years. At the time, it wasn't a culture, especially in Georgetown. The cool thing was getting jobs in government, consulting and banking.
I was accepted by what I thought was my dream job at Bain & Company, a consulting company.
I would have had to leave DC that the restaurant was up and running. I spoke to my partner. Should I stay? Should I go? They said, “Now it's one restaurant. Why not get these skills and see what happens?” I went and realized that consulting isn't for me, especially after becoming an entrepreneur.
Finally, it was actually a conversation with someone from Bane. Because he is like this:
I remembered this phrase: “You can't fall off the floor.”
Lightning time. Any tips for the secret sweet green menu?
A big unlock to the secret menu is dressing mixing. Put the two together, like the green goddess and spicy cashews. You have this completely different experience.
Are you using AI? If so, what was the last question you asked about the bot?
I use a lot of AI. The last thing I did was not about work. It was personal. I have a 2 year old and a 4 year old. I put those pictures in and asked what they would look like when they grew up. It blew my mind because I can't see it now.
What other CEOs do you respect?
I have always admired Howard Schultz. I think what he did at Starbucks was amazing.
Are you working on a plane or zone out?
I work a lot on the plane. It's this amazing quiet time that you can do so many jobs you can't do every day.
How do you sign off emails?
Usually, it's just “jn”. If that's a more inspirational message, I'll write “below”.
