“The things that drive consumers broadly, maybe not in kind of niche segments, it's cravability, convenience, price. Health is like in the top five or six. The holy grail for us is you can't win on health alone. … We have to be healthy and good for you, but you have to be delicious.”
The Best One Yet · October 2026
The hosts asked the Sweetgreen co-founder why he hadn't mentioned sustainability as a selling point, noting that Allbirds had to back away from its own sustainability pitch. Neman says consumers choose on craving, convenience and price, so health has to come with taste.
Transcript
…of tell all those stories and really understand how do we create desire for this kind of food. And so much of that is about, you know, the taste and the flavor, bold flavors. But it's also about the stories we tell around the food. And how do we just create excitement and desire for this food? But
…them that sustainability was their lead selling point, and then they had to backtrack from it because it didn't sell. So, it's just interesting to hear from these brands, like, what actually works in the markets, what actually resonates with people versus what you want to resonate with people.
Yeah, you know, when you think you look at the industry, the things that drive consumers broadly, maybe not in like kind of niche segments, it's cravability, convenience, price. Health is like in the top five or six. The holy grail for us is you can't win on health alone. Like, I've talked a lot about this idea of these four stages of food. How do you feel before you eat it while eating? It right after and 20 years later. You've had food, you have food companies that are really good at either the first two or the second two, right? They're really good at like making you crave it and tasting good, and then you feel terrible and you're probably not really healthy 20 years later, or the flip side where it doesn't look good, it doesn't taste good, but you feel great and you're really healthy. We cannot just win on health. We have to be healthy and good for you, but you have to be delicious. And so for us, it's really bringing those two together. It's like we always talk about it, it has to meet both taste and feel good together. I'm
still feeling Jack's home run Grand Slam Olive Garden order from college, I believe.
Nicholas, question for you. You know, Molly Baz, pickles are on the menu right now. Can you talk about limited time only offerings and how important that is, given you can't just have the same menu forever?
Yeah, and like that's a drop you do essentially, but it also is something other industries could do.