CAVA’s leadership believes its success has less to do with bowls and more to do with building a differentiated cuisine category that continues to attract consumers across income levels, markets, and occasions.
Speaking at Bernstein’s Strategic Decisions Conference, CEO Brett Schulman and CFO Tricia Tolivar outlined a growth strategy based on value, hospitality, disciplined pricing, and leadership development as the Mediterranean fast casual pushes beyond 460 locations nationwide.
The discussion came as CAVA continues to post some of the strongest results in the restaurant industry. In the first quarter, same-store sales increased 9.7 percent, driven largely by a 6.8 percent increase in traffic.
Here’s a look at how the chain’s unit count has grown since the start of 2025:
Q1 2025: 382
Q2 2025: 398
Q3 2025: 415
Q4 2025: 439
Q1 2026: 459
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For Schulman, the foundation dates back well before the company became a public growth story.
Founded from a single full-service restaurant in 2006 by childhood friends Ted Xenohristos and Dimitri Moshovitis, CAVA opened its first fast-casual location in 2011 after spending roughly a year figuring out how to translate its Mediterranean menu into a scalable format. Fifteen years later, the chain operates in 29 states and Washington, D.C.
“We truly believe we are building the next large-scale cultural cuisine category that’s fueled by some pretty significant secular trends, the growing diversity of the country, the increasing interest in modern health and wellness,” Schulman said.
That positioning has helped CAVA weather periods of demand volatility that often concern investors. The company has seen average unit volumes climb from roughly $2.3 million when it went public three years ago to more than $3 million today, creating what Schulman described as natural growth cycles.
He compared the business to a teenager going through growth spurts, arguing that short-term fluctuations can mask longer-term momentum. Last year, as one-year comparable sales growth moderated, two-year trends accelerated throughout the year. That momentum has continued into 2026.
Leadership repeatedly stressed that the company is focused on sustaining traffic growth over the next decade, not maximizing results in any single quarter.
That philosophy has shaped CAVA’s approach to pricing. Tolivar noted the company has raised prices significantly less than inflation and below many restaurant peers in recent years, choosing to absorb higher costs through its restaurant-level margins, which exceed 25 percent.
The strategy appears to be resonating with consumers. CAVA’s traffic growth remains broad-based across regions, restaurant vintages, and income cohorts. Even lower-income consumers, a demographic that has become increasingly pressured across the restaurant industry, continue to respond to the brand.
Schulman said the relative value equation has shifted in CAVA’s favor as traditional quick-service restaurants have become more expensive.
A base chicken, falafel, or roasted vegetable bowl starts at roughly $10.65 in some markets and includes unlimited toppings. Combined with the brand’s quality positioning, leadership believes that offering compares favorably with many traditional quick-service alternatives.
The company has also adjusted how it communicates value. Tolivar said CAVA recently changed its digital presentation to feature entry-level bowls more prominently while emphasizing customization and unlimited toppings. Premium add-ons have stayed strong despite the shift.
Strong demand has translated into equally strong development performance.
New restaurants continue to open above 100 percent productivity, and leadership said the company has yet to identify a market that doesn’t respond to the brand. Schulman pointed to locations ranging from Manhattan’s Bryant Park and Boston’s Back Bay to Topeka, Kansas, Mobile, Alabama, and Jacksonville, North Carolina, as evidence of the concept’s wide-ranging appeal.
The company maintains a diversified development strategy, balancing established markets, emerging markets, and greenfield opportunities. Approximately 30 percent of annual openings now come from entirely new markets.
As the footprint expands, executives identified leadership development—not real estate—as the primary factor governing future growth.
Schulman said CAVA’s ability to open restaurants with operational integrity depends on maintaining a deep pipeline of trained leaders. The company recently introduced a new assistant general manager role as part of its Flavor Your Future talent initiative, upgrading its previous general manager-in-training program with higher compensation and expanded responsibilities.
The goal is twofold: strengthen restaurant leadership today and create a larger pool of future operators capable of opening new restaurants.
“We have also a high-potential training program coming out this fall,” Schulman said. “So it’s really a platform architected to cultivate and develop high-potential team members through this program so that they can go open those restaurants with operational integrity.”
Operational consistency is still a recurring theme throughout the organization. When asked what could derail performance in the future, Schulman didn’t point to competitors or macroeconomic pressures.
Instead, he pointed directly at execution.
The focus on operations also informs CAVA’s stance on technology. Although digital sales now approach 40 percent of revenue, the company continues to invest in hospitality and dining-room experiences at a time when many restaurant chains are reducing human interaction.
Schulman argued that restaurants risk becoming too transactional if they focus exclusively on convenience.
He believes consumers are seeking experiences and human connection, particularly as technology becomes more pervasive in everyday life.
That doesn’t mean CAVA is ignoring innovation. The company continues to invest heavily in data infrastructure, personalization, loyalty, and artificial intelligence. Executives want to use AI to improve business intelligence, guest personalization, forecasting, labor scheduling, inventory management, and operational efficiency.
Schulman compared the opportunity to the digital transformation that reshaped the company over the past decade, when digital sales grew from roughly 1 percent of revenue to nearly 40 percent.
Still, leadership consistently returned to the same point, and it’s that technology should support people, not replace them.
“Operations and hospitality, I think, are underappreciated,” Schulman said. “And if our results were to wane, I think those would be the first things I’d look at that we’re not delivering on those commitments.”
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