Reflecting on 2020

To our sweetgreen guests,

To say the least, what a year. No one could have predicted we’d be writing this letter from home in December. As we approach the end of 2020, we’ve been reflecting on the past twelve months. Above all, we’re beyond grateful for your support in continuing our mission — to build healthier communities by connecting people to real food. Together, we’ve accomplished so much, and we’re proud to share a few highlights:

• Pivoted our Outpost Program, and teamed up with Chef José Andrés’ World Central Kitchen to provide nearly 400,000 bowls to healthcare heroes on the front lines.
• Opened 16 restaurants, including 4 new markets in Austin, Denver, Boulder and Miami, and hired over 2,000 new team members.
• Optimized our COVID safety operations to protect our team members and guests. We redesigned our restaurants to be COVID-safe and introduced curbside pickup and order notification statuses.
• Empowered our team to make their voices heard by providing up to 3 hours of paid-time off for all hourly team members, enabling easy registration at work, and provided education around voting rights and ballot issues.
• Launched delivery on the sweetgreen app, allowing you to get your sweetgreen fix more conveniently.
• Teamed up with chef and friend David Chang to bring sustainable, delicious kelp to all of our restaurants. We sourced over 20,000 lbs of kelp from Atlantic Sea Farms, and in doing so helped to reinvigorate Maine’s coastal economy.

Throughout this (very) challenging year, our restaurant team members have shown up with such passion, purpose, and resiliency. We’re humbled by their ongoing commitment to safely serve our communities and to bring our mission to life every single day.

To our loyal guests, thank you for your sustained support. It’s a privilege to build the future of food together, and we can’t wait to continue the journey in brighter days!

With gratitude,

Jonathan, Nicolas, and Nathaniel