{"id":37977,"date":"2025-11-07T07:21:38","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T07:21:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/usa\/cash-squeezed-gen-zers-and-millennials-are-bringing-down-americas-favorite-slop-bowl-chains\/"},"modified":"2025-11-07T07:21:38","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T07:21:38","slug":"cash-squeezed-gen-zers-and-millennials-are-bringing-down-americas-favorite-slop-bowl-chains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/usa\/cash-squeezed-gen-zers-and-millennials-are-bringing-down-americas-favorite-slop-bowl-chains\/","title":{"rendered":"Cash-squeezed Gen Zers and millennials are bringing down America&#8217;s favorite slop bowl chains"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/690d4fc97f37aa653f559634?format=jpeg\" alt=\"A customer selects dip and spread for his bowl at Cava.\"\/><figcaption>Chipotle, Cava, and Sweetgreen said younger customers are frequenting their stores less.<\/p>\n<p>Dixie D. Vereen\/For The Washington Post via Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li>Chipotle, Cava, and Sweetgreen are bearing the brunt of younger customers&#039; money squeeze.<\/li>\n<li>Executives of all three chains said 25- to 35-year-old customers are visiting their stores less.<\/li>\n<li>Lowering prices is not the silver bullet, an analyst told Business Insider.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Gen Zers and millennials are cutting back on dining out, hurting America&#039;s biggest fast-casual chains.<\/p>\n<p>Chipotle, Cava, and Sweetgreen reported earnings in the last two weeks, and all three reported the same problem: Diners age 25 to 35 are visiting their stores less frequently as theypinch pennies.<\/p>\n<p>The chains offering what&#039;s colloquially called slop bowls became a hit in the US for diners seeking something fresher, more customizable, and healthier than fast food with quick service.<\/p>\n<p>Now, unemployment, lower spending power, and high living costs are dragging down younger customers. Dining out is the first thing they cut back on, according to an October study by TD Cowen.<\/p>\n<p>The customer squeeze adds to the existing list of problems that these chains are facing, including being priced out by fast food chains like McDonald&#039;s.<\/p>\n<p>Investors are taking note: Chipotle, Cava, and Sweetgreen&#039;s stock all slumped in after-hours trading after their earnings reports. In the last month, Chipotle is down 26%, Cava is down 27%, and Sweetgreen is down 21%.<\/p>\n<p>Andrew Barish, a senior equity research analyst at Jefferies, told Business Insiderthe solution is more than just slashing prices.<\/p>\n<h2>Younger customers&#039; financial woes<\/h2>\n<p>Chipotle&#039;s CEO, Scott Boatwright, said on an October 29 earnings call that the 25 to 35 age group isfacing financial issues &quot;including unemployment, increased student loan repayment, and slower real wage growth.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>He said they were patronizing Chipotle less.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;We&#039;re not losing them to the competition. We&#039;re losing them to grocery and food at home,&quot; Boatwright said.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;They feel the pinch, we feel the pullback from them as well,&quot; he added.<\/p>\n<p>Cava&#039;s CEO, Brett Schulman, echoed Chipotle&#039;s concerns on a Tuesday earnings call.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;We recognize that today&#039;s environment is creating real pressures for consumers, especially younger guests who are making more deliberate choices about where they spend.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Sweetgreen&#039;s finance chief, Jamie McConnell, said on a Thursday earnings call that spending from the 25 to 35 age group, which makes up about 30% of the chain&#039;s consumer base, was down 15% in the recent quarter.<\/p>\n<p>The group was &quot;most under pressure,&quot; McConnell said.<\/p>\n<h2>Fast food is winning over slop bowls<\/h2>\n<p>Barish, the Jefferies analyst, said that intense promotions in restaurants, such as Chili&#039;s $10.99 &quot;3 for Me&quot; meal and McDonald&#039;s $8 Big Mac Extra Value meal in September, were squeezing slop bowl chains.<\/p>\n<p>When Business Insider tried meals from Chipotle, Cava, and Sweetgreen in September, they cost $19.01, $28.97, and $29.01, respectively, including drinks and sides.<\/p>\n<p>Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the president of brand strategy firm SLD, told Business Insider in September, &quot;If I&#039;m going to spend an extra $4 or $5 to go to Chipotle or Cava versus McDonald&#039;s, that value still needs to be there \u2014 it just needs to be a different type of value.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>&quot;They need to find that balance and provide value while creating something unique that is memorable and shareable,&quot; Lacroix said in September.<\/p>\n<p>Schulman, Cava&#039;s CEO, pushed back during this week&#039;s earnings call on criticism that the chain was selling unaffordable meals.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;Well, the reality is you can get a chicken fillet at Cava with all the toppings included \u2014 three different spreads, greens, and grains \u2014 for $10.65 to our highest price of $12.95 in New York City,&quot; Schulman said. &quot;So that&#039;s a sub-$13 bowl in the most expensive market, not a $20 lunch.&quot;<\/p>\n<h2>But lowering prices is not enough<\/h2>\n<p>Fixing the Gen Z and millennial problem requires more than just lowering prices.<\/p>\n<p>Barish said that the chains need to get consumers excited with menu innovation and good marketing.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;I don&#039;t think either Chipotle or Sweetgreen really has that, but Cava is on trend,&quot; he said, citing Cava&#039;s new chicken shawarma option.<\/p>\n<p>He added, &quot;Value is more than just price; it includes quality, variety, customization, service, and ambience, which fast-casual can deliver when done right.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>A Chipotle spokespersontoldBusiness Insider the chain isexploring &quot;new and creative ways to emphasize our value proposition.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>The company is looking to improve its execution in stores, innovate its menu, and double down on its rewards program, the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n<p>On an August earnings call, Sweetgreen CEO Jonathan Neman announced a turnaround plan to get customers back in the door, including 25% larger portions of chicken and tofu, recipe upgrades, and $13 salads for members.<\/p>\n<p>Representatives for Cava and Sweetgreen did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.<\/p>\n<p>Read the original article on Business Insider<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chipotle, Cava, and Sweetgreen said younger customers are frequenting their stores less. Dixie D. Vereen\/For The Washington Post via Getty Images Chipotle, Cava, and Sweetgreen are bearing the brunt of younger customers&#039; money squeeze. Executives of all three chains said 25- to 35-year-old customers are visiting their stores less. Lowering prices is not the silver [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37978,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-37977","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-usa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37977\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}