Celebrity News, Drinks / Food, Features
Naomi Osaka Joins Forces With Salad Giant Sweetgreen to Create Her Own Signature Bowl
Tennis champion Naomi Osaka has secured numerous endorsements from Louis Vuitton to Tag Heuer within the past year. She recently announced a new partnership with the fast-casual salad giant Sweetgreen. This makes her the company’s first athlete ambassador and its youngest investor.
“Our goal in partnering together is a big one: to change the way brands and athletes speak to future generations about the importance of what they eat. With the help of like-minded partners like Naomi, we want to redefine what the fast food industry looks like in the years to come,” the company’s founders, Jonathan Neman, Nathaniel Ru and Nicolas Jammet, wrote in an article on Medium.
This partnership breaks the mold of athletes (at times) promoting unhealthy fast food chains to their fans. Also, Osaka frequents Sweetgreen quite often as seen in her tweet. So it’s definitely a brand that feels authentic to her and that she connects with.
Anyone that knows me knows I’ve been into @sweetgreen for a while (I eat it three times a week when I’m training/at shoots), which is why I’m excited to share that I’m their newest partner and youngest investor 💚 more on how we’re redefining fast food together coming soon. pic.twitter.com/ZCIU78qdU3
— NaomiOsaka大坂なおみ (@naomiosaka) May 6, 2021
The Naomi Osaka Bowl
Her signature salad bowl was released on May 20th and is known as being her regular order. It features delicious ingredients including blackened chicken, warm quinoa, carrots, tomatoes, and lime cilantro jalapeno vinaigrette. Although Sweetgreen changes their offerings seasonally, it looks like this bowl will stay on the menu indefinitely.
Luckily, it’s already become a crowd favorite among many customers!
The Naomi Osaka bowl at Sweetgreen is excellent, 10/10 recommend
— Brian McGinnis 🏳️🌈 (@brianmcg_) May 20, 2021
Got the @naomiosaka bowl from @sweetgreen with a couple tweaks and babyyyyyyyy pic.twitter.com/4arCRzra8l
— • doula bae • (@xo__shaybae) May 25, 2021
if the @naomiosaka bowl at @sweetgreen doesn’t become a permanent menu item I’ll lose it. might even start a https://t.co/yMGhSTjCAM petition, who knows
— Allie Martin (@SeeAMTweet) May 23, 2021
Her Investment in Sweetgreen
In a similar fashion to securing equity in companies like Body Armor and Hyperice, Osaka is Sweetgreen’s youngest investor. This comes at a really interesting time as Bloomberg reported that the salad chain is seeking an initial public offering (IPO) this year—possibly leading to shares of the company being available on the stock market.
The exact figures or amount of stakes she has in the company are undisclosed. However, Ru spoke to the New York Times noting that Sweetgreen, “wanted to make sure she had some skin in the game.”
This definitely gives her more insight into the inner workings of the company beyond just being the face or the figurehead. Plus, it gives her more creative control as she continues to do work with them in the future.
The Social Impact of this Partnership
Osaka hasn’t shied away from using her platform for issues and causes she’s passionate about as a Black and Japanese woman. That’s why on May 26, all of the sales from her signature bowl went to The Asian American Foundation which supports AAPI communities to end racism and discrimination.
View this post on Instagram
This is only the beginning of this partnership so it’ll be interesting and exciting to see what else is to come. In the meantime, you can order the Naomi Osaka bowl exclusively through the Sweetgreen app via the App Store & Google Play.
(Photo Credit: Sweetgreen)
