When Alice Waters was dreaming of a counter-service empire, she wanted to focus on simplicity and sourcing – while delivering scalability and a growth rate that investors couldn’t ignore. That’s how she landed on Just a Tomato, a kitchenless model where customers are simply handed the produce along with a Note from Alice™ that delivers key messaging around product quality.
The breakout chain already has 25 locations in key West Coast markets, and has now attracted one of the most aggressive franchise acquisition teams in the country. "All I ever wanted to do was showcase local farmers in order to achieve outsized volume-per-unit," said Waters in an announcement on LinkedIn. "Veritas was not even on my radar, let alone at a stake of this size."
For its part, the capital management firm says it believes in the Chez Panisse founder (and now Just a Tomato CFO), who'll work under former Kraft/B.P. exec Justin Barfus to expand the portfolio. "We think this radically self-explanatory model is the future of the F-to-T category," read a statment from Veritas, "and that Waters' origin story will resonate with analysts and consumers alike."
