Cava Growth Playbook

Three childhood friends wanted to scale Mediterranean food with 'Fine-Dining' quality in a fast-casual format.

The 'Grocery-to-Table' Credibility Flywheel: Cava tacticaly successfully bypassed the 'Retail Awareness' barrier by entering grocery stores first. Their growth engine is 'CPG-First Exposure'—selling their branded dips and spreads in Whole Foods to build a premium reputation. This meant that when they opened physical restaurants, they had already 'Trialed' the product with millions of high-value customers. Their expansion leverages 'Health-Conscious Clustering'—placing stores near high-traffic fitness hubs like SoulCycle to capture the 'Wellness-as-a-Service' urban professional.