Houston-based Salata, the fast-growing salad and salad wrap restaurant company with locations throughout Texas, California, and Illinois, will commit more than $1 million to ingredient upgrades to further its “Fresh First” policy in 2016.
Salata has switched to using only antibiotic-free chicken, available in herb-marinated, Asian barbecue, pesto, and spicy chipotle. Additionally, Salata’s house-made dressings that contain mayonnaise—buttermilk ranch, chipotle ranch, and honey mustard—will now be made with mayonnaise using cage-free eggs and sustainable soybean oil, and its cookies will be made using only real butter, premium ingredients, and no artificial additives.
“Offering clean ingredients is not a passing fad for Salata, but a mission we’ve had since we founded the company in 2005 to make all our dressings, marinades, soups, and sauces in-house without preservatives and additives like high-fructose corn syrup,” says Salata founder and CEO Berge Simonian. “We’ve made this additional commitment to shape the future of Salata and further raise the bar on providing the best ingredients available.”
Though the company anticipates the ingredient upgrades will cost more than $1 million, it will not pass the cost on to its guests.
“Fresh First is the basis for our brand, and it’s what keeps our customers coming back,” Simonian says. “We are making this sizable investment to ensure we are leading the salad restaurant segment in quality.”
Other additions throughout 2016 include the reformulation of Salata’s protein marinades to reduce sodium levels, and switching to organic tea for all iced tea selections. Though few of its restaurants offer fountain drinks, Salata will also only offer sodas without high-fructose corn syrup.
Salata has had a long-standing commitment to providing the freshest ingredients and preparing them by hand, from chopping fresh veggies and fruits to grilling chicken daily and hand-picking herbs for house-made dressings. Its mission also includes ensuring all Salata restaurants are gluten-free certified and use allergy-friendly, safe handling practices.
Salata has more than 50 corporate and franchised locations in Texas, Southern California, and Illinois.
