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CAVA CEO Brett Schulman isn’t a fan of the term “value wars.” The phrasing has come into focus over recent months as fast-food and sit-down chains grapple with lower-income consumers peeling back their restaurant visits. But Schulman believes the two-word description is a misnomer. The words imply that brands are fighting over who has the best discounted offers for customers. That doesn’t equate with reality, according to Schulman.

To him, value is the worthiness of the product. And that worthiness is driven by more than just price point. There’s quality, relevance, convenience, and experience to consider as well. Putting energy into each of these buckets has fueled CAVA’s industry outperformance. The brand’s same-store sales rose 14.4 percent in Q2, including traffic growth of 9.5 percent. Revenue increased 35.2 percent, which led to $2.7 million AUV. The bottom line is also healthy, with adjusted EBITDA at $34.3 million, an increase of $12.7 million year-over-year, and net income of $19.7 million. Restaurant-level profit margin was 26.5 percent versus 26.1 percent in Q2 2023.