Cava CFO on growth, AI and why price hikes aren’t on the agenda

Good morning. When Cava recently reported second-quarter results, the numbers told a story of a fast-casual Mediterranean restaurant defying industry gravity: revenue up 31.3% year over year to $365.4 million, same-restaurant sales up 9% on 5.3% traffic growth, and shares jumping more than 10% in response last week. I also talked with CFO Tricia Tolivar about how the finance organization itself is changing. As her team prepped for the Aug. 11 earnings call, they leaned on AI tools built into Cava’s proprietary data platforms, Cava Core and Cava Current, to run Q&A preparation and business analysis, Tolivar told me. She sees AI more as a way to make her team sharper and faster as internal advisors. And Tolivar sees opportunities to lean into AI to make the lives of employees on the front li