Seeking a leader that can help the company to scale and expand, cold-pressed juice bar chain and functional wellness brand Pressed Juicery has named Eureka! Restaurant Group co-founder Justin Nedelman as its new CEO.
Nedelman arrives at Pressed Juicery from his prior role as chief real estate officer at FAT Brands Inc., overseeing a portfolio of 17 brands comprising over 2,300 restaurants nationwide. Prior to FAT, he co-founded and spent 12 years as CEO of Eureka, a full-service hamburger restaurant group with around 26 locations in six states, taking the company to a run rate of over $100 million.
At Pressed Juicery, Nedelman will be responsible for a significantly smaller restaurant footprint than in his previous role – the California-based company has about 110 juice bars nationwide – but will also for the first time tackle the CPG side of food and beverage; the brand sells its bottled juices and smoothies in over 3,000 stores including Sprouts, Whole Foods and Target.
“I was very focused on the real estate aspect of these 2,300 units and on a more global basis, in terms of looking at retail operations, merchandising, design, our offerings, our marketing, and how we connect with the guests,” Nedelman said. “[I wanted] to get back into more of a holistic approach to retail operations, and just overall execution.”
Nedelman said he had been looking for a role at a health and wellness oriented company and Pressed Juicery’s smaller size will allow for more flexibility and the ability to swiftly implement changes.
One immediate change will be in how the company approaches its consumer base – namely, Nedelman no longer wants to think of them as “consumers,” but instead as the hospitality industry norm of “guests.” While it may seem like a small detail, he said that shift in thinking will affect the company’s CPG strategy as he attempts to apply learnings from the restaurant side of the business to retail grocery and ecommerce.
Much of that change will come through in the brand’s messaging and marketing, attempting to translate the intimacy of its juice bar experience onto the CPG side of the business and creating associations between the restaurants and the bottled products in people’s minds.
“The first thing I said the day I got here was ‘we no longer have customers, we have guests,’” he said. “We have guests in our four walls, we have guests that are on our website, and our guests that come into our stores are also going to frequent grocery [stores]…. I think it’s a really interesting niche for us to be able to do all three, and they’re all going to be really important.”
Pressed Juicery was founded in 2010 by Carly De Castro, Hedi Gores and Hayden Slater. Slater served as CEO until 2019 when he was succeeded by the company’s CFO and COO Pawan Kalra, who left the company last summer. The company rebranded to the named Pressed in 2021, but has now reverted the branding back to its original name.
“Justin possesses an unparalleled track record in scaling dynamic food and beverage brands that connect with consumers on a national stage,” said Slater in a press release. “We are thrilled to have him onboard as our new CEO and see his appointment as a critical element of Pressed’s next chapter as an omnichannel wellness lifestyle brand.”
Nedelman next goal is to “reimagine” the brand’s retail store business by revamping its menu with new healthy snack options and functional products, citing nootropics as one possible area of interest. The company is also preparing to launch a better-for-you hydration sports drink, which he said will be fully announced in the coming months.
“From the moment someone wakes to the moment they go to bed, I think there’s opportunities at different day parts to add SKUs that reinforce, whether that’s energy or sleep or clarity, in a real way that’s defensible and that you can get behind with science,” he said. “So I think we need to be leaning harder into the [nootropics space] amongst other healthier alternatives.”
Beyond its own innovation, Pressed Juicery will also explore M&A opportunities, however Nedelman did not specify what types of brands or categories the business would be exploring for acquisition.
Nedelman also plans to increase Pressed Juicery’s manufacturing output. The company owns its own production facility in California, which he said has “almost unlimited capacity” that is being underutilized. While it has opened some co-manufacturing lines in the past, he said the company is exploring more co-packing opportunities in addition to its own innovation and increased output.
“Not only will it produce top line and EBITDA, it will further improve our own processes, deepen our manufacturing capabilities and allow us to kind of have an existing bench in terms of human talent as we grow our own business,” he added. “It’ll already be there potentially serving to get partners, clients, or the brands that we want to acquire or partner with. Without giving the specific numbers it’s one of the most exciting things I’ve seen since I got here.”