Fast-casual dining chain Just Salad has secured $200 million in investment from a group led by Wellington Management, with participation from D1 Capital Partners, Neuberger Berman and Stripes.

The funding, which values the chain at approximately $1 billion, will be used to support new unit growth, develop new menu offerings, and invest in technology and customer experience improvements.

Founded in New York City in 2006, Just Salad operates nearly 100 locations across several US states, including New York, Florida, Illinois and Massachusetts. The company, which offers salads, wraps, warm bowls, soups and smoothies, has positioned itself as a health-focused alternative in the quick-service food industry.

According to the company, Just Salad is a Certified B Corporation and operates a reusable bowl programme, which it claims reduces single-use packaging waste by approximately 43,000 pounds annually. The company has also partnered with food waste reduction platform Too Good to Go, reporting that it has saved more than 160,000 meals from landfills and avoided over 430,000kg of CO2e since 2021.

Nick Kenner, founder and CEO of Just Salad, said: "The quick-service food industry is in the early days of disruption, and the average consumer desperately wants healthy, craveable, convenient and accessible options... We are proud to partner with world-class investors like Wellington, D1, Neuberger Berman, and Stripes to propel our next phase of growth."

"We have a tremendous runway to build Just Salad into a leading national restaurant brand, and this investment demonstrates the confidence in that opportunity and our team's ability to achieve that goal."

Michael Carmen, co-head of private investments at Wellington Management, added: "We're excited to invest in Nick and the Just Salad team. Just Salad offers consumers a great product at an attractive price and stands out from other restaurant companies with its strong brand and impressive same-store sales growth. This growth is outpacing others in the fast-casual category and is being driven by increased consumer traffic during the past year."

Top image: © Just Salad