The Salad House Finds Success in Rising Demand for Healthy Options
With states across the country slowly reopening their economies, and many restaurants starting to open their doors again, one brand is looking toward the future. The Salad House—a health-conscious fast-casual restaurant brand that serves up fresh, customizable salad creations—has been successful throughout Covid-19. While continuing to effectively navigate the pandemic, The Salad House has set its sights on expanding its presence in the Northeast.
The brand’s success can be attributed to its large menu variety which caters to most diets and food restrictions, its streamlined systems, and strong third party relationships. While some restaurants struggled to adapt to the changing restaurant landscape, The Salad House is poised for growth as the demand for healthy food increases.
“By leveraging our advanced POS system, modifying our operations, and integrating delivery services (Uber Eats and DoorDash), we were able to continue providing our customers with an outstanding customer experience,” founder and owner of The Salad House Joey Cioffi said. “We offered curbside pickup before the pandemic struck because we wanted to offer a convenient service, so when the stay-at-home orders went into effect, we already had experience with this kind of service. Couple that with our strong third party delivery relationships and we were able to seamlessly transition to curbside pickup and delivery only operations.”
In addition to its strong business model, the brand sees its healthy lifestyle menu as a major factor in its success. Throughout the pandemic, The Salad House has seen store revenue increase compared to 2019, as more families are ordering healthy food. The pandemic has driven consumers to order in groups as opposed to individuals. As a result, The Salad House has seen larger tickets and overall revenue growth during the pandemic.
“Our menu has healthy food options for the entire family to choose from,” stated Director of Franchise Development Jerry Eicke. “By providing an array of menu offerings that fit all dietary restrictions, we appeal to a broader customer base, which has been key to allowing our brand to continue to thrive during the pandemic. With the warm weather here and people spending more time outside we are already seeing an increase in demand for our healthy food options as people look to clean up their diets and get in-shape.”
The Salad House has menu items that appeal to a variety of diets and food preferences, including vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free. Vegan options include a Beyond Meat California wrap, vegetarian offerings include the Greek Out salad, and gluten-free items like the Apple Waldy, Fiesta Chx or the Fit and Fueled salad, which provides a nutritionally balanced meal that has been curated by a Registered Dietitian. At The Salad House, there is a delicious, made-to-order menu item for everyone.
Eicke, who serves as the brand’s first franchisee in addition to his role as Director of Franchise Development, has helped drive The Salad House’s growth via franchising. After Cioffi opened the brand’s first location in 2011, Eicke spent years as a customer of The Salad House. Upon realizing his passion for the restaurant, he became involved in the brand and decided to start working with Cioffi on a franchise opportunity. The duo wanted to make sure that they had a solid foundation for The Salad House to build on before launching the franchise opportunity in 2017.
“We wanted to ensure that we had a strong understanding of The Salad House brand and everything it stood for before expanding,” said Cioffi. “Between opening The Salad House and launching the franchise opportunity, we spent every minute working to perfect the concept and build a strong foundation from which we could grow. Between our strong model, our delicious menu, and our impressive success during the pandemic, The Salad House is positioned for incredible growth and we are excited to see our brand continue to expand its presence throughout the New York and New Jersey area.”
To augment the company’s growth and introduce even more consumers to its delicious, health- conscious food offerings, The Salad House is currently seeking multi-unit franchisees. The brand is focused on expanding in the New York and New Jersey area, but other available territories include Connecticut and Pennsylvania. Including an initial franchise fee of $40,000, the initial investment range to open a location of The Salad House is $269,200 - $454,500.