Young people are struggling these days. So Sweetgreen is making an appeal to older people, or at least those who want to get old.
Really old.
The fast-casual chain on Tuesday launched a new limited-time menu that leans heavily into the brand’s longtime promise of offering healthful fast food, only this time there’s a trendy longevity specialist involved.
With a campaign dubbed “Eat What Loves You Back,” the chain’s five dishes, which tap existing ingredients, were developed in collaboration with Dr. Mark Hyman, who is known as an advocate of the notion that the physical decline typically associated with aging can be avoided (or at least delayed) if we treat our bodies better by eating well, exercising and sleeping better.
Some today call this biohacking. But it is a movement grounded in the basic idea that how we live impacts our long-term health.
Hyman is co-founder and chief medical officer of Function Health, a service designed to “empower everyone to live 100 healthy years” that allows members access to more than 160 biannual lab tests to assess their health for $365 per year, or $1 per day.
In conjunction with the menu launch, Sweetgreen is offering loyalty members $50 toward a Function membership. So, in theory, guests can see how eating more Sweetgreen impacts their health.
Sweetgreen’s new dishes—some of which are available for order only online—follow Hyman’s philosophy of eating, which some have called the Pegan Diet, plant-forward but not plant-based, with an emphasis on “real food” rather than processed ingredients.
Hyman is also the founder of the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine. He is also founder and director of The UltraWellness Center, and he hosts a podcast called the Dr. Hyman Show. And he has written extensively on aging well into one’s later years, including the recent “Young Forever.”
“Food is a powerful signal we send to our bodies. It’s information,” said Hyman, in a statement. “Every ingredient on this menu was thoughtfully selected based on nutrient principles, and decades of medical insight, with a deep respect for real ingredients. The result is food people genuinely crave that also supports how the body functions.”
The Sweetgreen menu includes:
The Omega Salad, with miso-glazed salmon, avocado, shredded carrots, chickpeas, cucumbers, cilantro, baby spinach, chopped romaine and Lime Cilantro Jalapeno Sauce. The average price is $17.33.
The Nutrient Power Plate, is the most value-positioned of the offerings, with Blackened Chicken, warm roasted sweet potatoes, spicy broccoli, chickpeas, pickled onions, almonds, wild rice, golden quinoa, olive oil and a lemon squeeze. The average price is $13.92.
The Spicy Reset Bowl also features the Blackened Chicken, avocado, shredded cabbage, apples, chickpeas, cilantro, Nori sesame seasoning, wild rice, shredded kale, olive oil, hot sauce and a lemon squeeze. The average price is $14.71.
The Iron Boost Bowl, available as an online exclusive, features Caramelized Garlic Steak, spicy broccoli, shredded cabbage, tomatoes, almonds, quinoa, arugula, and Lime Cilantro Jalapeno Sauce, for an average price of $16.30.
And the Steady Energy Bowl, also an online exclusive, includes roasted chicken, roasted sweet potatoes, spicy broccoli, cilantro, pickled onions, wild rice, shredded kale and Green Goddess Ranch, for an average of $14.43.
The menu will be available across the chain’s 280 units nationwide, starting Tuesday, though some markets like Atlanta, Florida and Boston will only feature the online-exclusive offerings.
January typically marks the season of more healthful eating. But for Sweetgreen the new menu follows a big emphasis on protein, and the launch of a macro-tracking tool that allows guests to build meals that meet their specific nutrient needs.
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