Operations

Sweetgreen is ready for commitment, at least for a year

The chain on Thursday is adding a third tier to its loyalty program: an annual subscription option for $100.
Sweetpass Plus
The annual subscription is a relative bargain at $100, and offers the same perks as the monthly tier, which is $10 per month.|Image courtesy of Sweetgreen.

Sweetgreen is ready for a longer-term commitment from its loyalty members.

Starting Thursday, guests can purchase an annual membership to the Sweetpass+ loyalty program subscription. For $100, guests can unlock a year’s worth of perks and discounts for the price of 10 months.

By comparison, a monthly Sweetpass+ membership costs $10 a month, which amounts to $120 per year.

With either the monthly or annual membership, Sweetpass+ holders earn rewards for frequent orders and get a daily discount of $3 on one order per day, in addition to other personalized offers and access to VIP brand experiences, the company said.

“With Sweetpass+, we continue to connect people to Sweetgreen through exclusive experiences and personalized rewards,” said Michael Kotick, vice president, head of marketing at Sweetgreen.

The first two tiers of the subscription program were launched in April 2023. Sweetgreen, however, declined to say how many members have signed up for the loyalty program since then, though Kotick said membership increased 25% in the second half of 2023.

The move now creates a third tier for the program.

Tier 1 is the regular Sweetpass, which is free. At that basic level, guests can earn certain rewards and challenges, a birthday gift, and they can hear about new bowl and merchandise drops, like these salad socks.

Panera Bread is another fast-casual chain with a multi-tier subscription program, including the annual membership for the Unlimited Sip Club, for $119.99 plus tax.

Members help make our journalism possible. Become a Restaurant Business member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.

Multimedia

Exclusive Content

Financing

Podcast transcript: Dutch Bros CEO Christine Barone

A Deeper Dive: Here is the transcript for the May 29 podcast with the chief executive of the drive-thru coffee chain, who talks real estate, boba and other topics.

Financing

McDonald's value perception problem is with its lighter users

The Bottom Line: The fast-food giant took the extraordinary step of publicizing average prices this week. It was speaking to its less-frequent customers, who are a lot less likely to say the chain is a good value.

Financing

CEO pay soared last year, despite a volatile period for restaurants

Pay for CEOs at publicly traded restaurants took off last year, but remains lower than average among public companies, even as tenure for the position remains volatile.

Trending

More from our partners