The slow rollout of MAD Greens restaurants was deliberate, but now the Colorado-based eatery is upping the pace. Kerstin Kühn investigates
Little more than a decade ago, the term ‘healthy fast food’ was considered an oxymoron. Today, healthy eating is one of the biggest factors affecting the fast-casual dining sector in the US, with the ‘better for you’ segment growing at an ever-increasing rate. From salad bars to healthy sandwich chains, vegetarian and vegan restaurants, healthy menus are springing up everywhere.
One of the chains that has been part of this healthy-eating movement right from the start, is Colorado-based MAD Greens. “When we first started in 2004, there was hardly anybody else doing what we were doing,” says Marley Hodgson, CEO and co-founder of the company. “Today, there are new concepts starting up every month.”
Known for its made-to-order salads that use premium ingredients and an emphasis on local sourcing, MAD Greens first started in Denver and, during the first nine years, gradually expanded locally. “We always wanted to have a concept that would be multi-regional or national, but you have to keep your eye on the ball because, as you grow bigger, any flaws in the concept are exposed at a much greater rate,” says Hodgson. “That’s why we grew so slowly – we really wanted to get a handle on our brand.”
Picking up the pace for openings
At the start of 2015, MAD Greens was looking for investment to fund further expansion and teamed up with Coors, which is famed for the Coors Brewing Company. AC Restaurant Group – a Coors family company – acquired MAD Greens in 2013 with the intention of expanding partnerships with local food suppliers and growing its presence outside of Colorado. Darden Coors joined the team as CEO and MAD Greens expanded to 13 restaurants along Colorado’s Front Range and opened two locations in Arizona in 2015.
And following an additional $13m (£9.36m) cash injection from AC Restaurant Group at the end of last year, the chain now plans to open up to 16 new restaurants this year alone, including five in Austin, which will be the brand’s first foray into Texas. A further three or four locations are planned for Colorado, as well as four units in Arizona, plus four restaurants are scheduled to open in two new states that will be disclosed later this year. Within the next five years, MAD Greens aims to have 100 outlets.
Hodgson and his business partner Dan Long first came up with the idea for MAD Greens after moving to Colorado from their home state of New York in the early 1990s for college. Inspired by a lack of the fresh, quick salad bars that are found on every street corner of New York city, the duo decided to start MAD Greens as a way to not only capitalise on a gap in the market for fresh, quick and good-for-you food but also to help diners enjoy eating better.
The menu at MAD Greens comprises a range of salads, as well as a few wraps and paninis and fresh juices, all of which are made to order. “The MAD in the company name stands for Marley And Dan but also the fact that life should be a bit of fun and eating is a part of that,” explains Hodgson. “With this in mind, all the menu items are named after famous people who were slightly mad.”
The Soleri salad, for instance, is named after the Italian architect Paolo Soleri, whose work stood in opposition to prevailing social norms; while the Ty Cobb salad is named after the famous baseball player renowned for his bad temper; and the Don Quixote salad is an ode to the literary character, who had lost his sanity and went on to his adventure to revive chivalry. “The names have definitely helped us in terms of marketing,” Hodgson insists.
Best-sellers include the Edgar Allen Poe salad with apples, pears, walnuts and blue cheese crumbles; the Ty Cobb with bacon, avocado, egg, red onion and tomato; and the Siam I Am with quinoa, spinach, kale, carrots, edamame, green onions and peanuts.
“Each menu is specific to a new area to source local items but also address regional flavours,” Adds Hodgson. “In Arizona, the menu is different to Colorado, which is a fun way to acknowledge areas’ flavours and also connect to the community.”
He adds: “Local sourcing has been a big part of what we do from the beginning. It’s a very hot topic now. But unfortunately it’s a very difficult thing to get right. We use local farms and producers. Even when we don’t source locally we take a lot of care of our producers. We are very particular about what we bring in.”
Customisation offer
The chain, for example, is working with a Golden-based urban farming company called Agriburbia, which raises organic produce on under-utilised suburban and urban plots of land in Denver.
As with most fast-casual concepts, customisation is key and guests at MAD Greens are able to create their own salads. “You can build your own but it’s a minority by far,” says Hodgson. “People love the idea of choice but, in reality, they lack the confidence and want stuff to be done for them. Substitutions to existing menus are a lot more popular than customisation.”
As far as the competition is concerned, Hodgson admits it is immense in the current market. “We have very specific competitors like Chop’t, Sweetgreens or Tender Greens. But there is a lot more competition than that and any fast-casual operator who does lunch with a focus on healthy food and fresh ingredients is competition to us.” He adds: “There are not a lot of ways to set yourself apart in restaurants. You can’t copyright recipes and, when you are successful, everyone copies you so you have to protect your brand and execute your offer better than everyone else.”
