Steele Brands, a Minnesota-based company developing healthy lifestyle brands, announced that its Crisp & Green brand is continuing its Minnesota expansion in response to the increasing demand for more stores beyond the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan market. As a result, 10 additional Minnesota locations are being added to the company’s development calendar, totaling 31 locations throughout Minnesota. The new Crisp & Green locations announced today include Brainerd, Duluth, Lino Lakes, Mankato, Prior Lake/Savage, St. Cloud, St. Louis Park, Roseville, Rogers and White Bear Lake.
Established in 2016 by Steele Brands’ Founder & CEO Steele Smiley, CRISP & GREEN has delivered year-over-year growth by providing nutritious, made-from-scratch food in a fast and convenient setting. More than just great food, the company places special emphasis on its “Commitment to Community” brand pillar by partnering with local fitness experts to provide complimentary classes to their guests. Throughout the past five years, CRISP & GREEN has hosted thousands of participants at more than 1,000 events nationwide, creating a devoted following and helping to make it one of the fastest-growing quick service restaurants (QSR) in the country.
Smiley, a life-long wellness entrepreneur, originally started CRISP & GREEN to fill a void in his own healthy lifestyle. “CRISP & GREEN started as a dream and a place for me, my friends and my neighbors to finally have access to healthy food on the go. Never did I imagine it would grow to the size it is now,” says Smiley. “While my team and I have worked extremely hard, none of this could have happened without the people of Minnesota supporting us, putting us on the map, and making us the No. 1 healthy fast-casual brand in the state.
There are 10 Crisp & Green locations currently open in Minnesota. Eight more locations will open in 2022, nine in 2023, and the remaining four will open in 2024. Smiley says the decision to double down on Crisp & Green’s growth on its home turf was an easy one. “Coastal brands have a tendency to forget Minnesota,” said Smiley. “They’ve long considered us flyover country. But I’ve always known the uniqueness of this culture and the spirit of our people. To our team, Minnesota is anything but flyover country. It’s home.”