Dive Brief:
- A great in-restaurant experience is Cava’s best opportunity to win over customers after a cyclosporiasis outbreak weighed on traffic across the quick-service restaurant industry, CEO Brett Schulman said on a Q2 2026 earnings call Tuesday.
- A combination of cleanliness, hospitality and consistently fresh food are driving the effort, according to Schulman. Cava doesn’t serve iceberg lettuce or source leafy greens from Mexico, where the outbreak originated, but it was affected by the broader consumer pullback.
- “In an environment where consumers are dealing with a lot of challenges in the world today and in their daily life, to be able to walk into a Cava and have an exceptional experience is really meaningful to them, and that's what we've seen the underlying strength of throughout the course of this year,” Schulman said on the call.
Dive Insight:
Cava’s continued investments in the experience, including in its loyalty program and workforce initiatives, helped drive a solid quarter despite the impact of the cyclosporiasis outbreak.
Same-restaurant sales grew 9% year over year in the second quarter of 2026, driven in part by a 5.3% increase in traffic, according to an earnings release. Revenue grew 31.3% to $365.4 million, and net income rose to $23 million.
Same-restaurant sales initially dipped to flat following the outbreak last month, according to CFO Tricia Tolivar. It has since improved sequentially each week, with same-restaurant sales returning to the mid single digits last week.
The company will continue to strengthen its restaurants through the Flavor Your Future initiative, a program aimed at hiring more than 2,500 new employees while developing future restaurant managers, Schulman said. The program is “reinforcing our belief that the best guest experiences begin by investing in our people.”
Cava continues to see progress with its loyalty program, which was revamped in October 2024, as well, according to Tolivar. The company has started providing offers to members sooner in order to get them moving up the loyalty tiers, and the program is growing in line with the company’s expectations.
Another recent change was the launch of the Flavor Passport, an in-app experience that rewards members for exploring more of the menu, Schulman said. “It's another example of how we're continuing to evolve our loyalty platform while creating deeper, more meaningful connections with our guests.”
