Crisp & Green will cross the 100-unit mark by year's end after agreeing to acquire 33 Mad Greens and Snappy Salads locations from the Coors family's Salad Collective. Terms were not disclosed. Every acquired restaurant converts to the Crisp & Green banner, and the Coors family stays on as a strategic minority partner.

The deal collapses two struggling salad brands into one of the segment's few growth stories. It also hands Crisp & Green, founded in Minnesota a decade ago, an instant footprint in Colorado and the Dallas market — territories where Mad Greens and Snappy Salads already operate. New openings in Phoenix and Austin, Texas, are also on the schedule.

"We've spent the last decade proving that you can build a nationally recognized restaurant brand with a disciplined approach to growth, exceptional franchise partners and people who believe in what you're building," said Steele Smiley, founder and executive chairman of Crisp & Green, in a statement. "We've built this business without institutional capital, and this transaction represents an exciting next chapter in our story."

Why Salad Collective sold

The Coors family acquired Mad Greens in 2013 and later merged it with Snappy Salads, creating the roughly 60-unit Salad Collective, which also includes the approximately 25-unit Tokyo Joe's — an Asian fast-casual brand serving bowls, noodles, sushi and poke. Tokyo Joe's is not part of the Crisp & Green transaction.

Salad Collective had spent 2025 trying to reset. It brought back John Montgomery as CEO earlier this year, moving Darden Coors to a chairman role, and Mad Greens had a menu overhaul underway led by consulting group The Culinary Edge.

Montgomery described the segment as suffering from a "post-COVID hangover," with salad sales down across the board. The company had even weighed converting Snappy Salads units to Mad Greens. A 2023 attempt to franchise Mad Greens never gained traction, Montgomery said.

"We're excited to partner with Crisp & Green and are confident in our shared vision," Coors said in a statement. "They bring together the right brand, seasoned leadership, and passionate franchise partners to execute the next phase of that vision."

What does this change for the conversion markets?

The 33 acquired restaurants become company-owned — a shift for two brands that had been searching for a coherent growth model. Crisp & Green, by contrast, already has one: of its current 54 locations, 32 are franchised, and the company plans to keep growing through both company stores and franchise partners.

For diners in Colorado and Dallas, the conversion means the Mad Greens and Snappy Salads menus disappear in favor of Crisp & Green's format, which pairs fast-casual salads and grain bowls with a wellness-community positioning. Two brands become one. That's the whole play.

Smiley frames the expansion as a bet on markets the coasts ignore. "Consumers everywhere are looking for food that fits the way they want to live, and that demand isn't limited to New York, Los Angeles or other major coastal cities," he said. "We've built our business by recognizing the opportunity in communities across the middle of the country, where guests want fresh, convenient food and a wellness community that accompanies it."

The 100-unit milestone lands a decade after Crisp & Green opened its first Minnesota restaurant — and with the fast-casual salad segment flat, the conversions will test whether consolidation, rather than menu resets or new franchising pushes, is what finally puts the category back on a growth trajectory.