Day: November 7, 2025

• Chipotle, Cava, and Sweetgreen are bearing the brunt of younger customers’ money squeeze.
• Executives of all three chains said 25- to 35-year-old customers are visiting their stores less.
• Lowering prices is not the silver bullet, an analyst told Business Insider.

Gen Zers and millennials are cutting back on dining out, hurting America’s biggest fast-casual chains.

Chipotle, Cava, and Sweetgreen reported earnings in the last two weeks, and all three reported the same problem: Diners age 25 to 35 are visiting their stores less frequently as they pinch pennies.

The chains offering what’s colloquially called slop bowls became a hit in the US for diners seeking something fresher, more customizable, and healthier than fast food with quick service.

Now, unemployment, lower spending power, and high living costs are dragging down younger customers. Dining out is the first thing they cut back on, according to an October study by TD Cowen.

The customer squeeze adds to the existing list of problems that these chains are facing, including being priced out by fast food chains like McDonald’s.

Investors are taking note: Chipotle, Cava, and Sweetgreen’s stock all slumped in after-hours trading after their earnings reports. In the last month, Chipotle is down 26%, Cava is down 27%, and Sweetgreen is down 21%.

Andrew Barish, a senior equity research analyst at Jefferies, told Business Insider the solution is more than just slashing prices.

Younger customers’ financial woes

Chipotle’s CEO, Scott Boatwright, said on an October 29 earnings call that the 25 to 35 age group is facing financial issues “including unemployment, increased student loan repayment, and slower real wage growth.”

He said they were patronizing Chipotle less.

“We’re not losing them to the competition. We’re losing them to grocery and food at home,” Boatwright said.

“They feel the pinch, we feel the pullback from them as well,” he added.

Cava’s CEO, Brett Schulman, echoed Chipotle’s concerns on a Tuesday earnings call.

“We recognize that today’s environment is creating real pressures for consumers, especially younger guests who are making more deliberate choices about where they spend.”

Sweetgreen’s finance chief, Jamie McConnell, said on a Thursday earnings call that spending from the 25 to 35 age group, which makes up about 30% of the chain’s consumer base, was down 15% in the recent quarter.

The group was “most under pressure,” McConnell said.

Fast food is winning over slop bowls

Barish, the Jefferies analyst, said that intense promotions in restaurants, such as Chili’s $10.99 “3 for Me” meal and McDonald’s $8 Big Mac Extra Value meal in September, were squeezing slop bowl chains.

When Business Insider tried meals from Chipotle, Cava, and Sweetgreen in September, they cost $19.01, $28.97, and $29.01, respectively, including drinks and sides.

Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the president of brand strategy firm SLD, told Business Insider in September, “If I’m going to spend an extra $4 or $5 to go to Chipotle or Cava versus McDonald’s, that value still needs to be there — it just needs to be a different type of value.”

“They need to find that balance and provide value while creating something unique that is memorable and shareable,” Lacroix said in September.

Schulman, Cava’s CEO, pushed back during this week’s earnings call on criticism that the chain was selling unaffordable meals.

“Well, the reality is you can get a chicken fillet at Cava with all the toppings included — three different spreads, greens, and grains — for $10.65 to our highest price of $12.95 in New York City,” Schulman said. “So that’s a sub-$13 bowl in the most expensive market, not a $20 lunch.”

But lowering prices is not enough

Fixing the Gen Z and millennial problem requires more than just lowering prices.

Barish said that the chains need to get consumers excited with menu innovation and good marketing.

“I don’t think either Chipotle or Sweetgreen really has that, but Cava is on trend,” he said, citing Cava’s new chicken shawarma option.

He added, “Value is more than just price; it includes quality, variety, customization, service, and ambience, which fast-casual can deliver when done right.”

A Chipotle spokesperson told Business Insider the chain is exploring “new and creative ways to emphasize our value proposition.”

The company is looking to improve its execution in stores, innovate its menu, and double down on its rewards program, the spokesperson said.

On an August earnings call, Sweetgreen CEO Jonathan Neman announced a turnaround plan to get customers back in the door, including 25% larger portions of chicken and tofu, recipe upgrades, and $13 salads for members.

Representatives for Cava and Sweetgreen did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

• Russia’s oil revenues cratered 27% just as new US sanctions tighten the screws even further.
• A stronger ruble, weak crude prices, and Western pressure squeezed the Kremlin’s war chest.
• Moscow’s shadow fleet keeps exports afloat — but at steeper discounts and higher costs.

Russia’s vital oil and gas revenues tumbled 27% in October from a year earlier, data from the Finance Ministry show — a sharp blow to the Kremlin’s wartime finances just as new US sanctions tighten the screws on its energy exports.

Moscow collected 888.6 billion rubles, or $10.9 billion, in oil and gas taxes, down from about 1.2 trillion rubles in October 2024, official data published on Thursday show. The steep decline came amid weak crude prices, a stronger ruble, and tightening Western sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Over the first 10 months of 2025, oil and gas revenues totaled 7.5 trillion rubles, down from 9.5 trillion in the same period last year — a drop of more than 2 trillion rubles, or 21%.

That pressure is set to intensify. In late October, the US Treasury Department sanctioned the financial arms of Rosneft and Lukoil, Russia’s largest oil companies, which together account for around 3 million barrels per day — nearly half of the country’s seaborne oil exports.

Although there were initial concerns that the new restrictions might tighten global supply and push up prices, markets have largely shrugged them off after an initial spike.

US West Texas Intermediate futures are trading around $60 a barrel, while international Brent crude hovers near $64 — both down roughly 15% so far this year amid abundant supply and sluggish demand.

Russia faces pressure to cut oil prices

Warren Patterson, the head of commodities strategy at ING, wrote in a Friday note that the lack of oil price impact indicates the market doesn’t expect much lost supply.

While Russia has managed to reroute much of its crude through a “shadow fleet,” non-Western insurance, and non-dollar payment systems, buyers may still face growing compliance risks under the latest US sanctions.

“The impact is likely to fall more on pricing than availability, with Russia having to offer wider discounts to compensate buyers for higher legal and logistical risk,” wrote Bridget Payne, the head of energy forecasting at Oxford Economics, in a late October report.

Payne said the added insurance and financing costs amount to a sanctions premium on Russian crude. That premium, she added, will widen its discount to international grades and eat into Moscow’s net revenue.

Russia’s economy grew 0.6% year-on-year in the third quarter, according to the Economic Development Ministry last week. The economy was down from 1.1% in the second quarter and 1.4% in the first quarter, a sharp slowdown after the wartime boom fueled by massive defense spending and government subsidies.

As President Vladimir Putin’s administration faces mounting fiscal strain, Washington — still seeking a diplomatic breakthrough in Ukraine — has signaled it wants to keep energy prices low and inflation in check while tightening sanctions that could drain Moscow’s war chest.

But President Donald Trump appears to be growing impatient with the lack of progress.

“Every time I speak to Vladimir, I have good conversations, and then they don’t go anywhere,” Trump said late last month.