Just Salad has raised $200 million to aid investment in menu innovation, advanced technology, and the customer experience, the company announced Monday.
The capital raise values the fast casual at $1 billion.
Funds came from an investor group led by Wellington Management, alongside D1 Capital Partners, Neuberger Berman, and Stripes.
Just Salad operates nearly 100 locations across urban and residential markets in New York, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. The chain said its “focus on the customer experience and disciplined real estate strategy” have led to favorable unit economics, same-store sales growth, and positive traffic, which have supported “dramatic revenue growth and strong profitability” at the store and enterprise level.
“The quick-service food industry is in the early days of disruption, and the average consumer desperately wants healthy, craveable, convenient and accessible options; no one does that better than Just Salad,” founder and CEO Nick Kenner said in a statement. “We are proud to partner with world-class investors like Wellington, D1, Neuberger Berman, and Stripes to propel our next phase of growth. We have a tremendous runway to build Just Salad into a leading national restaurant brand, and this investment demonstrates the confidence in that opportunity and our team’s ability to achieve that goal.”
The company is known for its commitment to sustainability. Just Salad is a Certified B Corporation and has the longest-running reusable bowl program in the U.S, which prevents 43,000 pounds of single-use packaging waste annually. Since 2021, the company has saved over 160,000 meals from landfills and avoided more than 430,000 kg of CO2e through its partnership with Too Good to Go.
The announcement comes a few weeks after Just Salad unveiled a leadership shakeup. The fast casual promoted Jennifer Lally to CMO and appointed Mark Berinato as chief experience officer and Stephen Blum as chief development officer.
The company also recently released a new Salad AI feature that helps customers build their meals based on lifestyle, nutrition, and flavor preferences, and opened its first drive-thru restaurant in New Jersey.
The brand debuted in 2006 in New York City to fulfill demand for healthier, convenient products. The menu comprises salads, wraps, warm bowls, soups, and smoothies, prepared with homemade dressings and produce that’s prepped daily. Proteins are marinated overnight and cooked fresh in the restaurant daily as well.
Wellington Management, D1 Capital Partners, Neuberger Berman, and Stripes have significant experience in the consumer and retail sector, in both private and public markets, according to a news release. These companies’ investment comes at a “critical inflection point of growth” for Just Salad.
“We’re excited to invest in Nick and the Just Salad team,” Michael Carmen, co-head of private investments at Wellington Management, said in a statement. “Just Salad offers consumers a great product at an attractive price and stands out from other restaurant companies with its strong brand and impressive same-store sales growth. This growth is outpacing others in the fast-casual category and is being driven by increased consumer traffic during the past year.”
BofA Securities acted as exclusive placement agent to Just Salad on the transaction and Latham & Watkins provided legal counsel.
