Salata Salad Kitchen has launched a rebrand designed to highlight its food and celebrate the individuality of its guests. This is the first time in its 14-year history that the built-to-order salad kitchen has fully rebranded.

“Our focus has always been on the back of house operations and the food itself. Salata, prides itself on—and our guests appreciated—us running a tight back-of-house operations and serving a quality product,” says Salata president Michelle Bythewood. “Now, with the modernized rebrand that is based on a deep understanding of our current and future guests, we are putting more intention on the front-of-house customer experience. This will help us stand out from competition in this space and support the aggressive growth plans we have laid out in front of us to enter new markets and attract new guests.”

Salata’s rebrand features a playful, simple and colorful new look and feel that encourages and enables guests to celebrate individualized healthy lifestyles—however they choose to define it.

Website

Salata’s new website features Salata’s new logo, original photography, a blog and language about restriction-less experiences at Salata. In July, a nutrition builder will be added, which will allow users to compare nutritional data of menu items and view a full nutritional breakdown of meals they build.

Advertising Campaign

Salata has launched a new advertising campaign, Salad How You Feel, as part of the rebrand. The campaign highlights Salata’s fully customizable product offering and encourages guests to be authentically themselves.

“When guests visit our restaurant, we want them to feel welcomed. So when we say, ‘Salad how you feel,’ we want them to stop and think, ‘What am I feeling today?’” says Bythewood. “The beauty is the versatility of the word feel. For example, a guest may be feeling adventurous, so they want to explore our variety of toppings and flavors. Whereas another guest might want to feel fueled, so they will create a salad that energizes them. We offer more options at Salata which equates to more freedom for salad fans to support their unique lifestyles and eat healthy, however they are feeling in that moment.”

As a leg of the campaign and demonstration of its advocacy for mental wellness, Salata is making a $15,000 donation to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) in conjunction with its rebrand. This donation is roughly equivalent to $10 per Salata team member. NAMI is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. In addition to supporting NAMI financially, Salata supports mental wellness through educational content, activations and activism to help all guests understand the connection between nutrition and mental wellness.

In-Store

Salata’s 85-plus stores nationwide will feature Salata’s new logo and point-of-purchase materials. Team members will wear new, more casual uniforms, making them more approachable for guests.

The unveiling of Salata’s rebrand comes on the heels of a restaurant redesign, which debuted in February in Lake Mary, Florida, with a second version opening this July in Lake Charles, Louisiana. However, rebranding and restaurant redesign efforts were done simultaneously, following extensive consumer research led by Salata and Back Lot Productions, Inc., an Atlanta-based brand development and design firm. Together, Salata and Back Lot Productions developed Salata’s new restaurant design and logo. Salata partnered with full-service advertising agency GS&F in Nashville to develop the marketing rebrand.

“We know that transforming a brand and a physical restaurant go hand in hand. We believe a more contemporary Salata will now be reflected in all facets of the brand, both inside and outside of our restaurants,” Bythewood says. “But we remain true to our original roots and our mission feel good physically, emotionally and mentally through the food we serve and the experience we provide.”

Salata’s emphasis on guest preference and personalization has also driven a new initiative at its Home Office test kitchen in Houston. On May 31, Salata kicked off a new focus group series where Salata guests sampled and guided potential product introductions based on its product innovation calendar. Salata plans to hold focus groups with guests on a quarterly basis going forward. 

Growth & Ongoing Development

Salata’s rebrand is the latest milestone in a high-growth year for the brand. In 2019, Salata has 20 new locations in the pipeline nationally and has a goal of securing 25 new franchise contracts. The franchise team is emphasizing expansion within Texas as well as entry into new markets, including Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Phoenix, and Tampa.

Salata plans to roll out a second phase of its rebrand later this summer with delivery, a new tech suite and loyalty program/app, all designed to make the guest experience more convenient and more rewarding.