Sweetgreen was already struggling with high prices and missteps. The cyclospora outbreak—though tied only to iceberg lettuce from other restaurants—has broadly spooked consumers away from leafy greens, forcing Sweetgreen to cut its annual same-store sales outlook from -4% to as much as -8%.
Starbucks is using AI to develop in-house software replacements for tools it currently buys from Microsoft and IBM, part of a cost-cutting effort. The CTO sees opportunities to reduce software spending, targeting $10 million in savings this fiscal year, which supports the company's broader turnaround and margin improvement.