Organic To Go Acquires Sunflowers Café And Bakery In San Diego Offering Organic Convenience At Breakfast And Lunch
Seattle, WA - Organic To Go, the nation's first fast casual café chain to be certified as an organic retailer, recently announced its acquisition of Sunflowers Café and Bakery at 4660 La Jolla Village Dr., La Jolla. The La Jolla location will be converted to an Organic To Go branded operations, offering food made with certified organic or natural ingredients for dining at the café, take out and corporate catering. This is the second acquisition in two months for Organic To Go which made San Diego its fourth region in July.
A longtime hotbed for healthy living and organic food, San Diego now boasts hot growth for Organic To Go, which posted 69 percent growth for second quarter sales over the same period last year. The company is finding lunch a ripe frontier for today's time-deprived consumer.
This most recent acquisition brings the total number of Organic To Go Cafes to 19. In addition to San Diego, the company has retail cafés in Orange County, Los Angeles and Washington State. Organic To Go's commitment to rapid expansion in the health-conscious environs of greater San Diego County is also taking root in branded Organic To Go kiosks on San Diego college campuses, including SDSU and USD.
"I am excited and proud to be back in San Diego County and believe Organic To Go's straightforward approach to serving America fare for lunch that happens to be made with organic or natural ingredients will provide an alternative that people are looking for," said Jason R. Brown, founder and CEO behind the Organic To Go concept and company. "Organic To Go is simple; we deliver delicious food to where people work and study, use tasty and seasonal organic food offered in super convenient ways for corporate meetings and at our cafes."
Frequently called "the new mainstream," organic represents only 0.5 percent of total U.S. farmland. If Brown, who recently received the "Organic Excellence" award by the Nutrition Business Journal's 2006 Achievement Awards, has his way, that statistic will change markedly for the better with tens of thousands of acres of farmland and ranchland converting to certified organic production. The net result? Organic food will be more accessible to all consumers, and the nation's food supply will contain less harmful pesticides, genetically modified organisms and antibiotics.
Organic To Go is the only organic retailer in the United States with its own branded cafés as well as grab-and-go kiosks in such diverse locations as the California State University campuses, Los Angeles International Airport and Seattle's Swedish Medical Center. Organic To Go's unique mix allows today's busy workers, executives and students to get quick access to tastefully prepared organic fare.
Providing another rebel twist on quick-serve routines, Organic To Go changes its menu with the seasons and acknowledges local food sources and traditions. The company publishes a new menu two times per year under the supervision of Creative Chef Greg Atkinson, a cookbook author and organic farm and food advocate.
"Fast food ... can and should have a lighter imprint on the planet but a delightful effect on one's palette," said Atkinson, who is weaving local avocados into the company's fall menu for San Diegans who are spoiled by a bounty of regional avocado farms. Those new avocado-infused sandwiches and wraps will be delivered with other classic American fare via hybrid technology in new Toyota Prius O To Go green, white and orange delivery cars as another way to flip the fast-food paradigm toward greener practices.
SOURCE: Organic To Go