Operations

Scaling fast casual: Cava's depth vs. Sweetgreen's breadth in Q2 2025

Cava's overall visits grew year-over-year n Q2 '25 while average visits per location remained relatively stable (-1.0%). Sweetgreen also experienced overall visit growth with a slightly larger (-3.1%) dip in its average visits per location.

Photo: ChatGPT

August 6, 2025 by Shira Petrack — Content Manager, Placer.ai

Cava started the year off strong with double-digit traffic increases between January and April 2025, but growth slowed down slightly towards the end of H1. Still, the chain capped off the quarter with an 8.7% YoY overall boost in visits in Q2 2025 while visits per location held essentially steady at -1.0% – suggesting that Cava's expansion is not cannibalizing traffic from its existing venues.

Sweetgreen experienced similar traffic patterns, with overall visits up 8.6% YoY in Q2 2025 and a visit gap of 3.1% — a somewhat larger dip than Cava's visits per location decline, though still a manageable figure for a brand in a heavy expansion phase.

Different expansion philosophies

While Cava and sweetgreen share a lot of similarities, analyzing the YoY change in Q2 2025 visits by DMA highlights their different expansion philosophies. Cava's strategy seems focused on market depth, where entry into new markets is part of a broader strategy of establishing and strengthening regional clusters. In contrast, Sweetgreen's approach seems to prioritize nationwide breadth – a strategy underscored by its plans to enter three distinct geographically separate markets in 2025.

The map reflects the impact of these distinct strategies: In Q2 2025, Cava's YoY visit growth is mostly concentrated in distinct geographic clusters, while sweetgreen's gains are more geographically dispersed across the country's major metropolitan areas.

Multiple paths to success

The Q2 2025 visit growth of Cava and sweetgreen demonstrates that multiple viable paths exist for scaling a premium fast-casual brand. While both approaches are currently driving significant overall growth, the crucial test ahead will be which strategy can better maintain store-level profitability and brand loyalty as they continue to scale.

This article first appeared on Placer.ai.

About Shira Petrack

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Shira Petrack is a former lawyer and current content manager for Placer.ai, the most advanced foot traffic analytics platform allowing anyone with a stake in the physical world to instantly generate insights into any property for a deeper understanding of the factors that drive success.

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