CAVA the category-defining Mediterranean fast-casual restaurant brand, has officially published the results from its first-ever Impact Report, which was designed to detail the company’s commitments and progress across three foundational pillars that drive its mission i.e. Heart, Health, and Humanity.
Going by the available details, this particular report arrives on the scene to effectively expand upon how CAVA is working to nourish communities, manage environmental resources, and support its team members.
“At CAVA, impact isn’t something we add on later — it’s built into everything we do. Our mission to bring heart, health, and humanity to food is at the center of that, shaping how we support our team, serve our guests, and engage with our communities,” said Brett Schulman, co-founder and CEO of CAVA. “This report reflects the intentional work happening across CAVA every day and the responsibility we feel to keep pushing ourselves to do better, together.”
Talk about the given report on a slightly deeper level, we begin from one of CAVA’s three major pillars: Heart, which is connected to company’s emphasis on the power of human connection. Not just that, it is also inspired by the Mediterranean ethos of welcoming everyone to the table.
In this regard, CAVA would successfully strengthen its leadership. This it will do on the back of CAVA Competency Champion Training, a program where Area Leaders and General Managers inspire, coach, and help develop team members. The stated program, in totality, reaches over 3,200 team members through 150 workshops across the country.
Next up, the company provided a variety of benefits and rewards to team members, all for the purpose of supporting their overall well-being, including offering tuition discounts, providing adoption and family planning support, and mental health resources.
Another detail worth a mention relates to CAVA’s bid to build an inclusive culture and workplace, through everyday practices, and a company-wide Allies in Motion (AIM) group, which hosted 38 events in 2024 to increase allyship, empathetic listening, and inclusivity.
On top of that, the company also made practical efforts to facilitate an enterprise mindset across the organization. Here, CAVA leveraged its Partners in Service program, which includes two ongoing initiatives where Support Center and restaurant team members come together to strengthen connection, empathy, and the guest experience.
You see, one program would be Shoulder-to-Shoulder, which immerses support center team members in restaurants each quarter to better understand and support day-to-day operations. On the other hand, we have Centering at the Source program, which recognizes top-performing restaurant team members with visits to CAVA’s support center to celebrate their success and share best practices.
Moving on to second CAVA pillar in Health, it saw the company reaching upon concrete ways to upcycle resources in its supply chain. This involves CAVA draining its chickpeas to make fresh falafel, with the leftover water being used as an emulsifying ingredient in its garlic dressing, which also happens to be the brand’s most popular.
Furthermore, the company sourced ingredients through trusted partners including Manoli Canoli, CAVA’s olive and olive oil producer from Sparta, Greece, and Damascus Bakeries.
CAVA also remained largely committed to sustainable practices through a multi-year project, which has already restored the native Piedmont Savannah habitat around its Verona, VA manufacturing facility. In essence, the stated project restored natural plant biodiversity and fostered animal habitat across a footprint of 5 acres.
Beyond that, the company is also now looking to repurpose waste with guest-facing waste stations, stations that are already being piloted in restaurants.
Turning our attention towards the last pillar in CAVA’s strategy, it would be Humanity.
This particular aspect had the company joining fight to end hunger by serving over 42,000 meals to people in need through food bank partners in 2024.
Next up, CAVA is striving to cut down on food waste through a range of operational practices, geared towards accurately calibrating production volumes. You see, the company has even partnered with Too Good To Go, a marketplace for surplus food, at 49 participating restaurants to reduce excess food, and at the same time, raise money to support local nonprofit organizations.
CAVA is also piloting generative AI tools to better forecast demand and optimize prep.
