There are a trillion bowl concepts across the U.S., and that makes Justin Rosenberg sad.
That count may be a slight exaggeration. But Rosenberg, the founder and CEO of Honeygrow, wants American consumers to understand he is not growing another bowl concept (even though food is sometimes served in bowls).
It’s something different.
Honeygrow is a 60-unit stir-fry and salad concept, where food is made fresh to order. Guests order from touchscreens that allows them to choose signature offerings or build their own. There’s a dessert bar option—called Honeybar—that allows guests to build a dessert with fruit and sweet treats like chocolate mousse, cheesecake filling or whipped cream.
The dessert bar contributes about 5% of sales and brings in traffic during off-peak hours. | Photo courtesy of Honeygrow.
With a stir-fry and a drink around $15 to $16, Honeygrow falls between Sweetgreen and Cava, pricewise.
About 85% of sales are stir fry dishes, and they're not necessarily Asian. The menu includes eclectic offerings like a Buffalo chicken stir fry, a chicken parmesan, and a chicken shawarma is being tested. Guests can choose between rice noodles, an egg white noodle, or a whole wheat (higher-protein) option. Proteins range from chicken, steak, shrimp or tofu to crab claws and turkey meatballs.
It's as healthful (or not) as guests want it to be, Rosenberg notes. But, either way, dishes are cooked to order and delivered with speed, with about 60% of sales at dinner.
“I wanted to create something that wasn’t being done,” he said. “There are so many burger, bowl and noodle concepts. I wanted something that would be distinct.”
Based in Philadelphia and founded in 2012, Honeygrow is growing its all-company-owned units at a rapid clip, expecting to reach up to 72 by the end of this year, when sales are expected to reach $150 million. Another 18 units are planned for 2026, and Rosenberg plans to continue 30% unit growth annually.
(Last year, Honeygrow’s sales increased more than 30% to $120.3 million with 54 units, a 35% increase year-over-year, according to the Technomic Top 500 Restaurant Chain report.)
The chain is in nine states, currently filling in Ohio (Akron, Cleveland and, soon, Columbus), as well as Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia.
And Rosenberg is following the “somewhat boring” strategy of diligence, focus and patience.
“It does sound really boring, but I think what works is the obsessive focus on making sure the ops are great, and being sure that translates well to the customer,” said Rosenberg. “There’s no need to go batshit crazy. Do what’s tried and true. Create amazing experiences for people over and over again.”
Honeygrow's Red Coconut Curry. | Photo courtesy of Honeygrow.
Things haven’t always gone so smoothly for Honeygrow, Rosenberg is quick to note.
Before the pandemic, in an attempt to bring down opening costs, Rosenberg experimented with a smaller version of Honeygrow that was called Minigrow.
“Instead of doing one, and testing it in Philly, like a true idiot, I did six,” he said. “We got ahead of our skis.”
It was a costly mistake. All six of the Minigrows ended up closing, along with some traditional units in the Chicago area and Washington, D.C.
“That was almost lights out for us,” he said. “We had to reset everything.”
But the chain was able to navigate the pandemic and then return to growth, after reducing buildout costs of the traditional units to less than $1 million, with a two-year payback on the model. The chain was back to profitability by 2021, he said.
Honeygrow had raised about $80 million from investors and private-equity through 2020, but since then has been self-funding growth with little debt, he said.
He envisions reaching something like 3,000 units nationally in time, but the company is now working to build brand awareness.
“We have a model that’s working really well,” he said. “We’re a very tight, diligent group of humans just running this company, making sure this can actually be successful.”
Here’s a conversation with Justin Rosenberg, founder and CEO of Honeygrow:
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