I think it’s critical to make sure we’ve got our operators positioned in the best place as we drive revenue going forward.
Christopher O’Cull: Okay great. Thanks, guys.
Operator: Thank you. The next question comes from Jon Tower from Citi. Please go ahead.
Jon Tower: Great. Thanks. Just a couple of clarifications and then a question. First, on the comments about the fourth quarter guidance, the implied comp. Are you seeing a slowdown of that magnitude quarter-to-date?
Tricia Tolivar: Well, as we’ve stated prior, we are not going to give inter-quarter or intra-quarter guidance as it relates to same-restaurant sales. And I’ll just reinforce what we said earlier, we had a very strong Q4 of 2022 at a 15% comp. And so factoring that in, as well as the uncertainty in the macroeconomic environment, we feel comfortable with the guidance that we’ve outlined today.
Jon Tower: Got it. Okay. And then just on the steak itself, is that going to be a permanent menu item or is it slotted as an LTO?
Brett Schulman: We are still looking at it through the stage gate process to make a final determination, and we’ll have more on that in future earnings calls.
Jon Tower: Okay. And then just last one on the question piece. You’re speaking quite a bit to the idea that the environment, the macro environment, there’s a lot of uncertainty. And I’m just trying to think about how CAVA breaks through the noise in an environment where consumers are being a little bit more discerning on where they spend, your brand awareness is pretty low relative to the competitive set and we’re already seeing value messaging starting to step up across the industry. So what tools does the team have in place to kind of draw in new customers next year as kind of the noise across the industry around value really steps up?
Brett Schulman: Yes, Jon, it’s Brett. Thanks for the question. I think you called it, right? We’ve got fairly low brand awareness compared to some of our larger peers, yet we’re putting up great results. We’re seeing great resiliency from our consumer. We’re seeing people gravitate to the brand. So we feel like there’s a lot of upside for us in the coming months and years as Mediterranean becomes a more national cuisine and CAVA becomes a more national brand from a brand awareness standpoint. When you think about the tools we have, our social team does a phenomenal job. It’s amazing, the virality and the awareness you can get on a channel like TikTok these days and get millions of views and really have our brand awareness have a network effect around markets as well as opening new restaurants with our community days.
And the earned media we get in these markets, we found our marketing spend to be incredibly efficient in driving brand awareness increases in markets. So you look at some of the markets we’ve opened a year or 2 ago, the brand awareness has already increased from 20% to 40%. So again, we’re in our infancy and we’re in the early stages of this. And then when it comes to the value perception, which is why I think our traffic has been resilient in the face of some of these macroeconomic headwinds is the differentiated nature of our cuisine, the uniqueness of our cuisine, and the fit of our cuisine to a modern consumer were taste and health unite, right? You think about trying to recreate a CAVA meal at home or at the grocery store for a similar price or going to a peer and getting a similar type of meal that is satisfying, flavorful and helpful for you at a similar price.
So we have been leaning into our value proposition. Tricia talked about the price increases or the lack thereof that we’ve taken compared to many peers, working on behalf of our guests, trying to drive a great value proposition for them when they’re feeling the pressures of inflation from other parts of their life, and we think that’s what’s kind of translated to the results this quarter and what we’re leaning into next year to continue to not only be resilient but grow market share in the face of those macroeconomic concerns.
