Consumer
Soggy Fries, Lettuce Shortages Fueled Sweetgreen’s $5 Billion Stock Wipeout
The salad chain that set out to revolutionize fast food has been beset by costly and avoidable mistakes.
Sweetgreen has been in free fall, losing nearly 80% of its market value last year.
Photo Illustration: Nigel Lujan Jones/Bloomberg
It turns out, making a healthier French fry is a nightmare. Sweetgreen workers warned their managers that the salad chain’s attempt — crinkle-cut potatoes air-fried in avocado oil — was too labor intensive.
But senior management, led by Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Neman and encouraged by a share price that climbed on every mention of the fast-food moonshot, persisted. Last March, Ripple Fries made their nationwide debut.