The Sweetgreen x Function Health collaboration was created to meet people where they are at the start of the year, motivated to feel better, but tired of restrictive resets and fleeting wellness trends. As January has increasingly become a moment of intention rather than deprivation, Sweetgreen saw an opportunity to reinforce its long-standing position as a lifestyle brand that supports everyday health and well-being, not just a place to eat salad.
Partnering with Function Health, an authority in data-driven, preventive health, was a natural extension of Sweetgreen’s mission to help people feel their best through real food. Anchored in the campaign idea Eat What Loves You Back, the collaboration aimed to translate complex health science into something approachable, craveable, and actionable: meals designed around foundational biological principles, available nationwide.
The primary objectives were to:
Ultimately, the collaboration sought to redefine what “healthy eating” looks like by making it feel empowering, delicious, and easy to return to, again and again.
Bringing the Sweetgreen x Function Health collaboration to life required aligning two brands with shared values but distinct strengths: Sweetgreen’s real-food cooking and culinary creativity, and Function Health’s expertise in population nutrition and biological health.
The partnership launched in early January, an intentional choice rooted in cultural insight. Rather than leaning into “New Year, New You” messaging, the campaign reframed the moment as one of sustainable wellness, offering meals designed to support how the body functions without sacrificing flavor or joy.
Function’s co-founder and Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Mark Hyman, worked alongside Sweetgreen’s culinary team to design a first-of-its-kind menu informed by foundational nutrient principles. Each dish was developed to support everyday biological functions, energy, focus, balance, all while remaining craveable and accessible to a broad audience.
Execution extended well beyond the menu itself. The collaboration became a multi-channel wellness experience:
The challenge was avoiding the perception of wellness as prescriptive or elitist. Sweetgreen addressed this by grounding the collaboration in real food, familiar flavors, and simple explanations, allowing guests to engage at their own comfort level. The result was a partnership that felt credible, welcoming, and culturally relevant.
What made this collaboration unique was its restraint. Instead of chasing trends or buzzwords, Sweetgreen and Function focused on longevity, creating a partnership designed to fit seamlessly into everyday life, not just a single moment on the calendar.
The Sweetgreen x Function Health collaboration successfully met its objectives by reinforcing Sweetgreen’s role as a lifestyle brand that supports long-term health and wellness, particularly during a culturally significant moment for behavior change.
Key indicators of success include:
Ultimately, the collaboration succeeded because it made better health feel intuitive, not intimidating. By pairing real food with real science, Sweetgreen and Function demonstrated how brand partnerships can drive cultural relevance, deepen loyalty, and create value that lasts well beyond a single campaign window.
