Dive Brief:
- Cava posted 3.1% same-restaurant sales growth in Q3, extending its run of comps growth, despite a bruising year for fast casuals in 2025 and continued consumer weakness this year. The brand has never posted negative same-store sales growth in its history as a public company.
- Cava’s results did moderate from its strong growth in H1, when its comps topped 9% in two quarters. While it saw a small uptick in transactions, its sale increase was driven more by pricing and mix shifts than by rising traffic, CFO Tricia Tolivar said.
- The chain increased its projections for full-year comps from a range of 4.5% to 6.5% to a 6% to 7% range, according to the chain’s earnings release.
Dive Insight:
Cava has continued to see consistent performance across different consumer age groups and income segments, Tolivar said.
This is a good sign for the fast casual brand, as competitors attributed traffic declines in recent years to weaknesses with specific subgroups of consumers. Last fall, for example, Chipotle singled out consumers aged 25 to 35 as a demographic experiencing a particular slowdown.
Tolivar said price increases were concentrated in the margins of the menu, and were in line with the chain’s efforts to keep increases below the Consumer Price Index.
“Our pricing, at the beginning of the year, we set out at about 1.4% to 1.5%, with no increase at all to base bowls,” Tolivar said. “There were increases on other premium items on the menu.”
Pricing mainly impacted sides — like pita chips, drinks and premium attachments, like steak, Tolivar said. Consumers opted for more premium items as well, with the incidence of steak ordering rising.
The chain’s traffic was hindered by consumer avoidance of produce related to the cyclosporiasis outbreak this summer, though Cava was not connected with the outbreak. Tolivar said the epidemic resulted in a comps headwind of roughly 150 basis points.
Cava’s salmon addition has been meeting expectations. Tolivar said the protein’s performance gave the brand confidence in its ability to deploy other seafood options. The chain market tested shrimp in recent months, and Tolivar said there could be a broader rollout of that protein as early as next year.
The fast casual chain also hit the 500-store mark in the quarter, with its market entry into Minneapolis. Tolivar said the chain made its Wisconsin debut shortly thereafter, fleshing out its multi-year effort to establish footholds across Midwestern markets.
Tolivar said recent openings have performed well, regardless of market type, with both new markets and infill areas seeing strong sales.
Other chains that had strong H1 traffic performances have also seen a moderation in transaction growth recently. Starbucks, for example, saw 7.7% comps growth, but traffic only accounted for one-third of that increase, with shifting menu mix and price increases driving the rest.
