Salad drive-thru chain closes all locations after blaming bankruptcy on rising costs and cyclospora
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All of the drive-thru chain Salad and Go’s stores are set to close after the firm filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, citing the recent cyclospora outbreak as a factor in the decision.
Mike Tattersfield, the brand’s CEO, confirmed on Tuesday that all 70 stores located in Arizona and Nevada would serve their final customers on August 5.
“This is a painful day for everyone who built, worked for and loved Salad and Go,” said CEO Mike Tattersfield in a news release. “Our mission was brought to life every day by an extraordinary team and embraced by guests who made us part of their routines.”
Tattersfield added, “We are proud of what we built together and grateful to every team member, guest and partner who believed in it.”
Founded in 2013, the chain had served over 60 million meals across its drive-thru locations. In the company statement, a spokesperson said that the firm had been designed to “make fresh food available to all.”
However, Salad and Go was unable to cope with rising costs, growth challenges and pressure on consumer demand.
The recent cyclospora outbreak, which has been widely referred to online as the “explosive diarrhea parasite,” also compounded the challenges faced by the chain, the statement says.
People contract cyclosporiasis after eating food or drinking water contaminated with human feces containing the microscopic parasite Cyclospora. In mid July, Sysco said ithalted sales and distribution of Taylor Farms iceberg lettuce from Mexico. Sysco did a voluntary recall at the time and then Taylor Farms notified the distributor of an official recall, Hourican said.
According to Salad and Go, the company was not implicated in the Cyclospora outbreak in July, but the spread of the so-called “explosive diarrhea parasite” still shook confidence across the industry.
The previous owners of Salad and Go, who now operate another restaurant chain named Angie’s, described the news of the closure as “bittersweet.”
“We dreamed that anywhere there was a McDonald’s, there would also be a better and healthier alternative that people could afford,” the statement, uploaded to Instagram, read. “Although we exited in 2021, watching the company announce the closing of its remaining locations is heartbreaking.”
The former owners added, “To everyone who was ever a part of the Salad and Go journey with us, we thank you.”
Meanwhile, Sysco, the biggest U.S. food distributor, has stopped buying iceberg lettuce from Mexico due to the U.S. cyclosporiasis outbreak, CEO Kevin Hourican said on Tuesday.
The move shows how the largest U.S. outbreak of cyclosporiasis on record has forced adjustments to the food supply chain as cases of the disease continue to mount. An investigation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has linked the outbreak to iceberg lettuce served at Taco Bell restaurants and sourced from privately held Taylor Farms operations in central Mexico. However, authorities are still looking for other potential sources.
