Is Sweetgreen getting a bit sweeter, maybe, but not the stock?
On Monday, the company announced the launch of a new dessert category. The first offering: a Crispy Rice Treat. In keeping with Sweetgreen’s emphasis on health, this version is made with organic brown rice, quinoa, puffed millet, butter, and roasted sunflower seeds. It is sweetened with honey date caramel. Each is individually wrapped and priced at $2.95. The dessert was developed by pastry chef Malcolm Livingston II, who is also Sweetgreen’s first-ever Chef-In-Residence, and more dishes are coming. Livingston has cooked in some of the world’s most renowned restaurants, including Noma, Per Se, WD-50, and Le Cirque. He also has hosted an online cooking series with his 6-year-old daughter Elli, who will also appear in the social media assets for Sweetgreen’s Crispy Rice Treat. On Nov. 11, Sweetgreen will host Free Dessert Friday, offering free Crispy Rice Treats to in-store customers with a minimum purchase of $9.95 while supplies last. In a promotion from Nov. 28 through Dec. 4, digital customers can get a Crispy Rice Treat for $1 with a minimum $9.95 order.
This changes nothing for me.
Consumers are dining out less.
Technomic regularly surveys consumers about shifts in dining preferences and behaviors and has done much work since March 2020. Meaning they have a lot of data on pandemic-focused research. One data point, in particular, looks interesting as the number of consumers has not yet returned to their pre-pandemic restaurant behavior. Technomic has been asking consumers if they’re ordering from restaurants as much as they did before the pandemic. The percentage of consumers who have returned to their pre-pandemic restaurant ordering habits has been growing slowly and now looks to have stalled. The percentage of consumers ordering as if it was 2019 has been stubbornly hovering at about 55%-60%. Why hasn’t this number budged? According to the company, in addition to cost and COVID-19, nearly half of those consumers are not dining out as they used to as their lifestyle has changed, and they just don’t go out as much as they used to.
PTLO Analyst Day
PTLO making CMG look expensive, especially thru the delivery channel. Also, the company is touting is strong unit volumes and margins. More after the analyst day.
