Sweetgreen

Sweetgreen deployed robotic "Infinite Kitchen" automation across 12 locations by end of 2024, with plans to expand to 33 locations in 2025. The system can produce 500 bowls per hour versus 300 for humans, achieving 7% labor savings. In November 2025, Sweetgreen sold the Spyce Food Co. unit (which developed the technology) to Wonder Group for $186.4 million while retaining a licensing agreement. The company claims "no workers have lost their jobs from the system" and asserts they are expanding, though the sale came amid broader workforce restructuring.

Sweetgreen laid off 10% of open and existing support center team roles in early Q3 2025. CEO Jonathan Neman announced the cuts during the Q2 earnings call in August 2025, stating they were intended to "constrain losses." The layoffs accompanied the discontinuation of Ripple Fries and came amid a 7.6% same-store sales decline in Q2 2025. The chain's operational losses hit $26.4 million with a negative 14.2% operating margin. Earlier in 2022, Sweetgreen had laid off 5% of support center staff while shrinking real estate.

Dropped the phrase "diversity, equity and inclusion" from its annual report. The wording appears in the 10-K filed 2024-02-29 and is absent from the 10-K filed 2025-02-27.

Telehealth company. Prescription mills criticism. But expanded access to care. Mixed ethics.