Operations

5 strategic plays behind Cava's $1B year

Photo: Cava

February 25, 2026 by Cherryh Cansler — Editor, FastCasual.com

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Cava Co-founder and CEO Brett Schulman didn't just report numbers during the company's Q4 and full-year 2025 earnings call on Tuesday; he reported a transformation. The leader officially transitioned from a "newly public company" to a "large-scale sustainable growth enterprise," surpassing the $1 billion revenue mark for the first time.

Cava 2025: By the numbers

Before diving into the strategy, the scale of CAVA's 2025 growth deserves a look. The brand managed to maintain high margins even while investing heavily in its workforce and new equipment.

4Q 2025 highlights included:

• Revenue up 21.2% to $272.8 million.
• Opened 24 units.
• SSS increased by .5%.
• Restaurant-level Profit of $58.3 million or growth of 15.7%.
• Digital Revenue Mix: 38.9%.
• Net Income: $4.9 million.
• Adjusted EBITDA of $25.8 million compared to $25.1 million in 2024

With a roadmap to 1,000 units by 2032, Cava is providing a blueprint for the modern fast casual era. Below are five lessons other fast casuals can take from the brand's record-setting year.

1. Resist the discounting trap

In an industry currently obsessed with price slashing, Cava is moving in the opposite direction. Schulman said while peers have raised prices only to pivot to discounting, Cava halved the price increases of its competitors over recent years.

"Today's industry environment is dominated by price discounting," Schulman said on the call. "We believe it's more important than ever to deliver real value every day."

2. Know when to restructure leadership

As brands grow, operational integrity and culture often suffer. Cava, however, is combating this by reinventing its field leadership. The brand recently hired COO Doug Thompson to oversee leadership development, including its Flavor Your Future initiative. The program's goal is to attract, develop and retain future leaders.

"One of our first actions under this program was the introduction of the Assistant General Manager role created to build a deeper bench of role-ready leaders as we continue to scale," Schulman said.

The team is on schedule with 60% of AGM roles filled and a majority of them coming from internal promotions.

"Restaurants with AGM coverage are outperforming those without as AGMs provide additional leadership support during peak dinner and weekend shifts, helping to strengthen execution across every shift, develop future team members and create more sustainable restaurant teams," Schulman said.

In addition to the AGM role, Cava introduced two zone leaders, splitting the country to increase focus, accountability and leadership proximity to restaurants.

"Together, these changes increase in-restaurant leadership presence, reinforce hospitality and build the leadership pipeline needed to support long-term sustainable growth," Schulman said.

3. Use loyalty to create an oasis

Cava recently evolved its loyalty program into a tiered structure: Sea, Sand and Sun, but the real lesson for fast casual operators is the introduction of "Oasis," an invite-only tier for the most engaged members. It moves the loyalty conversation from a transaction to a relationship.

"This tier is another example of how we will utilize our new loyalty architecture to lean into more tailored and personalized guest experiences over time," Schulman said.

4. Innovation must be operationalized

Cava is set to launch pomegranate-glazed salmon — its first-ever seafood protein — at the end of Q1. While seafood is a natural fit for the Mediterranean diet, it can be an operational nightmare.

To prepare, Cava completed a system-wide rollout of TurboChef ovens and kitchen display systems.

"By simplifying execution and delivering faster, more consistent cook quality, these ovens help ensure our culinary innovation shows up in restaurants with the same integrity and care we design it with," Schulman said.

5. New market productivity is the North Star

While many brands worry that new units will cannibalize existing ones, Cava's new-restaurant productivity remains above 100%, with average unit volumes for new openings trending above $3 million. Cava will open 74 to 76 locations this year, entering the Midwest's Cincinnati, St. Louis and Minneapolis.

"2025 marked a milestone year for CAVA as we continued to deliver on our mission of bringing heart, health and humanity to food while scaling the business with a long-term, intentional focus," Schulman said. "Our momentum and market share gains underscore the strength of our value proposition and reflect how deeply our brand is resonating with today's increasingly discerning consumer."

The bottom line

Cava's success isn't the result of one "silver bullet" initiative. As CFO Tricia Tolivar put it, the brand's performance is like a Cava bowl: "a lot of amazing individual items that come together to produce something pretty impactful."

Wanna hear more?

Schulman joined Fast Casual Nation to discuss his growth strategy. Click here to check it out.

About Cherryh Cansler

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Cherryh Cansler is VP of Events for Networld Media Group and publisher of FastCasual.com. She has been covering the restaurant industry since 2012. Her byline has appeared in Forbes, The Kansas City Star and American Fitness magazine, among many others.

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