Mediterranean fast casual restaurant chain Cava has seen a string of success, growing its profit more than 35% last year with 388 locations nationwide. Tricia Tolivar has been the chain’s CFO since 2020, and talked to me about her employee- and customer-centered approach to the company’s finances. This conversation has been edited for length, clarity and continuity.

This conversation has been edited for length, clarity and continuity. It was excerpted in the Forbes CFO newsletter.

What does the business space look like now for fast casual restaurants?

Tolivar: At Cava, we’ve been very fortunate to be able to deliver some of the strongest traffic growths of anyone in the public environment. We believe that’s because of our strong value proposition with our guests, where quality, relevance, convenience and experience are incredibly important. The quality of food that we offer, where taste and health unite, the relevance of the Mediterranean diet, as well as the convenience of the brand. [Customers are] able to experience us in our restaurants, as 65% of our guests do, or enjoy our digital platforms where you’re able to either have it delivered or pick up.

Last is the experience. We believe that right now, more than ever, it’s incredibly important to reinforce the human connection and our Mediterranean hospitality. The experience in our restaurant is that we welcome everyone to our table and want to encourage those who come to share a meal with us and to enjoy this incredible cuisine. In this environment, we believe it’s important to leverage those aspects of the business, so that we can continue to deliver on those strong traffic results that we’ve seen.

Cava CFO Tricia Tolivar.

Before you came to Cava, you’d been CFO at specialty retailers. What are some of the differences with fast casual restaurants, and what’s the same?

I spent time at GNC and AutoZone, and the biggest difference between restaurants and my multi-unit retail experience is around inventory. Certainly the restaurant business has inventory, but it’s something that you consume fairly quickly. At Cava, we use all fresh ingredients. We get multiple deliveries........

© Forbes