Sweetgreen is selling steak for the first time, and it hopes the pricey add-on will bring protein-hungry customers in for dinner

• Sweetgreen introduced caramelized garlic steak, which is now the most expensive protein on its menu.
• Its CEO said the steak should boost its dinner sales and expand its customer base.
• "There's a lot of fast-casual customers that won't go somewhere unless there is a meat option," he said.

Sweetgreen just added steak to its menu for the first time, which it says could attract new protein-hungry customers and boost its evening sales.

The salad chain, which has over 225 locations, added caramelized garlic steak on Tuesday. It features in three new set entrées and can also be added to custom dishes.

Axios reported that it's the first red meat Sweetgreen has sold. The only other meat it currently sells is chicken. It also sells salmon.

Sweetgreen says the steak is seasoned with a garlic spice blend and roasted to get a "deep caramelized char on the outside and a juicy center on the inside," before being finished with olive oil and herbs. It's "reminiscent of classic steakhouse flavors," Sweetgreen said in a press release.

At a Sweetgreen in Manhattan, the three new entrées featuring the steak cost between $16.15 and $17.15.

And it's the chain's priciest protein yet.

It costs $6.45 to add the steak to another set entrée or to a custom bowl at the Manhattan location. In comparison, Sweetgreen charges $2.75 to add roasted tofu, $3.75 to add blackened or roasted chicken, and $6.15 to add miso glazed salmon.

Cofounder and CEO Jonathan Neman told investors on Thursday that during its test of the steak in Boston in February, it became a "dinnertime favorite" and was included in nearly one in five dinner orders. Customers returned to order it, and the test exceeded Sweetgreen's expectations, he said.

"Incorporating steak into our menu provides customers with something they've been seeking for years," Neman said. "A lot of the surveys, consumer insights that we had is there's a lot of fast-casual customers that won't go somewhere unless there is a meat option."

Neman said that Sweetgreen introduced steak to boost its dinner sales and expand its customer base. The chain generates most of its revenue from its lunchtime trade, with dinner orders accounting for about 35% of its business. It revamped its protein plates range in the fall to help drive evening sales.

But it's unclear how the steak fits into Sweetgreen's sustainability goals, The New York Times reported. Sweetgreen says that it plans to become carbon neutral by 2027, and beef has a massive carbon footprint.

Sweetgreen says that the cows used for the steak are grass-fed and pasture-raised. A spokesperson for the chain told The Times that the steak is mostly sourced from farms in Australia and New Zealand that are "rooted in regenerative farming principles."

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