‘Never waste a crisis’: A salad thief stole the Sweetgreen cofounders' recipes a week before they opened their first restaurant

Sweetgreen cofounder Nic Jammet said growing up in his parents' famous restaurant helped foster and guide him in the restaurant industry. (Credit: Courtesy of Sweetgreen)

Sweetgreen doesn’t use iceberg lettuce, and it doesn’t buy lettuce from Mexico, according to cofounder Nic Jammet, but the salad chain still paid for this summer’s cyclospora outbreak anyway.

Federal investigators tied the outbreak to iceberg lettuce from central Mexico, but fears about produce hit Sweetgreen regardless. The company cut its full-year outlook in August, projecting same-store sales would fall 7% to 8%, down from its earlier forecast of a 2% to 4% decline. The CDC declared the outbreak over on Sept. 11.