Sweetgreen now offers nine dishes with more than 30 grams of protein. | Photo courtesy of Sweetgreen.
Consumers can’t stop fretting about getting enough protein. So Sweetgreen is going to help them manage their macros.
The fast-casual chain on Monday announced a new macronutrient-tracking tool, available across its digital channels, that allows guests to see the grams of protein, carbohydrates and fat in each dish on the menu. The tool also lets guests swap out ingredients as they build their meal to see how changes might impact the nutritional balance in real time.
The tool is also designed to draw attention to the fact that Sweetgreen is adding 25% more chicken and tofu to bowls, a move initiated earlier this year in an ongoing effort to improve the brand’s perception of value. As a result, Sweetgreen now has nine chef-curated dishes on the menu that have more than 30 grams of protein.
“The protein campaign gives us a great opportunity to educate customers about our larger protein portions and is the first step to broadly communicating the key differentiators that make our menu distinct in the market,” said Sweetgreen CEO and co-founder Jonathan Neman, in an earnings call with analysts last week.
Sweetgreen’s sales have trended downward throughout the year as younger consumers, in particular, face growing macroeconomic pressures. After reporting an 11.7% decline in traffic and product mix for the third quarter, Sweetgreen said sales among its key demographic of 25- to 35-year-olds were down 15%.
At the same time, discounting is rampant across the industry, making it even more difficult for higher-average-ticket brands, like Sweetgreen, to communicate value beyond price.
Sweetgreen is working to improve its value perception, taking a look at pricing overall.
But Neman said the brand’s marketing push will also put the spotlight on its more healthful, “real food” ingredients as a source of protein, as opposed to artificial (and possibly lead-spiked) powders, bars and fortified snacks.
Sweetgreen offers meat and tofu raised without antibiotics, for example, as well as seed-free oils, organic and local produce and food is cooked from scratch in house.
Consumers increasingly judge the value of any dish by how much protein it has. According to the IFIC Food & Health Survey earlier this year, 71% of Americans are trying to eat more protein, up from 67% in 2023 and 59% in 2022—even though most Americans don’t know how much protein they should be consuming or how much they are actually eating.
The macro tracking tool will at least help them figure it out.
“Sweetgreen has always been rooted in enabling our consumers to personalize their experience,” said Zipporah Allen, chief commercial officer at Sweetgreen, in a statement. “As people look for food that’s both better for them and aligned with their evolving nutritional needs, we’re continuing to lead the charge by making real, nourishing meals easier to access and enjoy every day.”
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