Innovation

By combining “honest eating” and “growing local,” honeygrow disrupted the restaurant industry with its innovative business model and supply chain. Seeing the trend towards health-conscious eating in 2012, Justin Rosenberg, the founder and CEO of honeygrow, aimed to “nourish creativity” with his food. For accomplishing this goal, the company integrated the practice of local ingredient sourcing into its business model and offered a wide range of customization options for its guests. Director of Operations Kyle Brown stresses how important local ingredient sourcing is to honeygrow. He says at least “40% of the menu in each location is locally sourced” from small community farms who work with vendors to pool together their produce to achieve the sufficient volume that honeygrow’s ever-growing business demands.

This local ingredient sourcing is innovative in that fresh ingredients are provided to the cooks in each honeygrow location so that they can create delicious food which is both nourishing and creative to the guests. If this innovation was not enough, Chief Brand Officer Jen Denis also emphasizes the power of food customization, which honeygrow implements via its digital kiosks in all of its 35+ locations. The infusion of high-tech customization into food imparts a refreshing sense of agency for the guests who already love honeygrow’s fresh, locally sourced food. By allowing guests to be a part of the food creation process, honeygrow again realizes its aim of “nourishing creativity.” Through this innovation, honeygrow fulfills the SDGs of good health and well-being, responsible production and consumption, and sustainable cities and communities.

Inspiration

Justin Rosenberg, founder and CEO of honeygrow, established his company in 2012 after discovering a lack of healthy eating options for his newly adopted vegan diet. Implementing the innovative business model of quick, healthy and affordable food through locally sourced ingredients, creative food arrangements and stunning customization options have allowed honeygrow to quickly expand from one location to over 35 in just six years. Agility is perhaps the most important factor in honeygrow’s success and innovation. Their continuous efforts of menu review (every 30 days), vendor evaluations, internal evaluations, and guest engagement allow the company to be able to quickly adapt to changing trends and circumstances. Thus, honeygrow’s agility allows it to be successful by predicting and changing itself to properly capture the market based on internal and external factors. Though this agility has been present from its inception, honeygrow’s focus on millennials and a younger clientele may further reinforce its agile culture.

In addition to its agility, honeygrow is unique in the sense that it offers guests a wide range of food customization options through their app or in-store kiosks. This infusion of technology into the more traditional practices of quick service and great healthy food is innovative along with the fact that honeygrow largely sources its ingredients from local places. In order to ensure that it is growing, honeygrow is very strategic in its location and method of functioning. For example, to create their delicious food, Director of Operations Kyle Brown says that honeygrow sources at least 40% of its ingredients in each location from local vendors within a 100-mile radius of that location. Though he admits that some items on the menu, like pineapples, can hardly be locally sourced in most locations, honeygrow still actively ensures it builds beneficial relationships with its vendors who source from local farms. Brown and Chief Brand Officer Jen Denis both believe this local impact that honeygrow creates was an indirect fulfillment of the United Nation’s (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of good health and well-being, responsible production and consumption, and sustainable cities and communities. In other words, honeygrow was not founded to initially fulfill these SDGs, but since its founding, the SDGs and the goal of making a positive impact on the community have become part of its core set of values that all employees believe in and have great respect for. Thus, honeygrow’s innovative goal of “nourishing creativity,” through local ingredient sourcing and technological utility to better connect with their guests, unite employees in a common sense of mission/purpose/meaning.

honeygrow is strategically located in areas where more people are open to healthier food options. Locations are opened in areas that are considered “the right place” at the “right time.” This customization allows for hospitality as it allows people to order what they want and makes them feel comfortable. honeygrow even makes sure that there is an ambassador at every store to make customers feel welcome. All of these customization techniques are an attempt to ensure that honeygrow has the proper technology and environment to make their customers feel both valued and comfortable while eating. In fact, honeygrow even changes its menu quite frequently. honeygrow also changes its vendor frequently—at least once every season. “There is a meeting conducted every 30 days to discuss these changes which honeygrow adopts based on its customers’ preferences and other internal factors,” says Kyle Brown.

honeygrow’s inspired beginning for providing healthy eating options now extends to fulfill several UN SDGS, making the world a better place, while running a profitable company.

Overall impact

Ever since the organization’s establishment, honeygrow has attempted to better the world and its population by using the most healthy of ingredients. Most meals that the chain offers contain all of the nutrients (carbohydrates, fats, and protein) that one must consume every day. Therefore if one ate at honeygrow consistently, they would be able to maintain a healthy diet. In addition to its healthy meals, honeygrow offers a variety of foods for all people, regardless of their age and their eating preference. Therefore a person, who follows a vegan diet is just as capable of enjoying their meal as someone on a strict protein diet.

Another aspect that keeps the customers at honeygrow satisfied can be seen through the adjustments made to menus almost every single month. This is seen through the words of the company’s Director of Operations, Kyle Brown, who confirmed that the most recent menu inhibits a “new Sausage and Peppers stir fry” with the meat locally sourced in each location. So that if one “has that stir fry for lunch in Chicago and then for dinner in [Washington] D.C., the stir-fry will taste a little differently because the sausage is locally sourced.” honeygrow’s constant menu change keeps their customers satisfied and excited. This has allowed the company to maintain a large customer base, while also keeping them satisfied.

Business benefit

In modern day America, the majority of the population is drawn to affordable options when it comes to all necessities. This could best be seen through the purchasing of food, which does not offer very affordable options, with the exception of cooking and fast-food. Therefore many people have relied greatly on fast-food, due to the fact that cooking takes a great amount of time, people have relied on fast-food for many meals. Although purchasing fast-food is not relatively bad, the consumption of most meals it offers is extremely unhealthy. Therefore, a healthy fast-food restaurant is an absolute treasure for the people, making honeygrow an organization of great potential. The offering of healthy foods at a low price is by far the greatest strength that honeygrow has to offer, as mentioned by both upper and lower management. Since this is extremely rare in modern time, honeygrow should show off this distinction on a greater scale.

The specialty that honeygrow has to offer should be shown off by the organization more than it currently is. This could best be achieved by creating a greater marketing campaign for the company. Since the products of honeygrow are capable of becoming very beneficial for one’s health and wealth, if people begin to realize the possible advantages they will purchase and invest in the product. This also relates to one of honeygrow’s core values of providing great food. In fact, providing high-quality food at an affordable price is what drove CEO Rosenberg to found honeygrow in the first place. Thus, further leveraging the values set honeygrow has will further help it grow when it comes to customer acquisition and maintenance. The best way for one to expand the popularity of products is through marketing, which will show off all of the benefits that honeygrow has to offer, thus increasing customers and profit, allowing for the organization to expand. This can be best communicated to the public through advertisements that exemplify “Imessages,” which could expose the dangers of eating unhealthy fast-food’s like those produced by organizations such as McDonald's or Burger King while notifying the public that honeygrow produces healthy foods for all individuals. Another strategy that would help honeygrow advertise their product is to not overload their commercials with information, and instead focus only on the advantages of consuming more of their products. In addition to an increase in marketing, honeygrow should also focus on creating a greater source of pride within its organization. It is one of few organizations that offer such a great balance of health and fair-price when it comes to its product. Therefore, this must be boasted about within the restaurant, whether it be through the employees of the company or environment. Because honeygrow takes great pride in its culture and has values that aim to continually improve the culture, boasting about the company’s successes will further motivate employees to perform well. The people who are eating there must know how lucky they are to be consuming such quality food for such a low price. By establishing a great marketing campaign and sense of pride within the organization, the benefits of the products will be greater exemplified, and everyone will be aware of the organization purpose: to provide a healthy and affordable option for all.

Social and environmental benefit

The short-term effects and benefits on the business are that it can create a healthy eating substitution for many people. honeygrow’s menu is currently made up of “at least 40% locally sourced foods” from farms in a “100-mile radius” of their location. The other 60% of the menu is derived from “sustainable food” such as pineapple that would not be able to be grown in New Jersey. Along with these statistics, honeygrow holds meetings every 30 days, monthly, to discuss changes to their menus, making decisions on whether or not certain foods on the menu should stay or not depending on its sales and profits. This can create and encourage a healthy lifestyle with the options the company provides in its menus.

This menu is beneficial for the environment because it helps many local farms grow their own business. The long-term effects on society is to help establish better nutritional and dietary plans for humans. honeygrow also aims to help sustain and protect the environment for as long as possible, while making profits for their business and expanding to other regions.

Interviews

Kyle Brown, Director of Operations

Jen Denis, Chief Brand Officer