CAVA Group, Inc. (CAVA)

Fast-casual restaurants, plant and support counted. Read October 19, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending December 28, 2025, filed February 25, 2026. Ranked 144 of the 161 Consumer Cyclical companies read so far, by the share within reach now.

The filing counts 12,900 team members in its restaurants and 580 in manufacturing and the support center, so restaurants carry the workforce as a counted part.

The figures on this page come from the company's own annual report and from BLS staffing patterns for its industries, never from a roster. They are estimates with a stated method. Nothing here says what the company will do: within reach is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.

What follows from the reading

Share of working time within reach of AI, on the long-run pace at four in five: 11% now, 14% at the end of 2027, 14% at the end of 2028, 14% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 14% desk work, 22% people work and 64% body work. These are the site's industry estimates weighted by the shares below: estimates with a stated method and range, not a forecast of what the company will do. By the same patterns, at the end of 2028 about 85% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 10% becomes checking a model's work and 4% could be handed over with lighter checks, from the industries' own figures, not the company's roles.

Headcount

13,480 employees as of December 28, 2025 (sum of stated parts). Not stated as a count; the restaurants and the manufacturing facility are in the United States.

The filing: “As of December 28, 2025, we employed approximately 12,900 Team Members in our restaurants and 580 within manufacturing and our Collaboration Center Organization.”

The workforce as industry patterns

What the filing says about the workforce: About 12,900 in restaurants and 580 in manufacturing and the Collaboration Center; headcount up from 10,300 and 8,100 in the two prior years as the filing's history shows; no hourly, part-time or union figure stated.

Companies read with the same leading pattern

Other companies whose largest staffing pattern is also Restaurants and Other Eating Places, largest first, each read from its own annual report. Within reach now and at the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.

• Starbucks (SBUX, 381,000 employees)11% now, 14% by 2028
• Yum China Holdings, Inc. (YUMC, 290,000 employees)11% now, 14% by 2028
• Darden (DRI, 209,931 employees)11% now, 13% by 2028
• McDonald's Corporation (MCD, 150,000 employees)11% now, 13% by 2028
• Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (CMG, 130,301 employees)11% now, 14% by 2028
• Texas Roadhouse, Inc. (TXRH, 101,000 employees)11% now, 14% by 2028
• Brinker International, Inc. (EAT, 85,003 employees)11% now, 14% by 2028
• Cracker Barrel Old Country Store (CBRL, 74,500 employees)11% now, 14% by 2028

What the filing says about AI

11 sentences in the filing name AI. Eleven sentences: the company says it is building artificial intelligence into its restaurants and guest experience, including AI video technology that monitors ingredient depletion and assists meal preparation, with the risks that brings.

• “Our use or capabilities of artificial intelligence may result in reputational harm and liability and may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations..”
• “We are building artificial intelligence capabilities into our restaurants and guest experiences, including the use of artificial intelligence video technology to monitor how quickly ingredients are being depleted and assist teams with meal preparation.”
• “As with many innovations, our use of artificial intelligence presents additional risks and challenges that could affect its adoption and therefore our business.”
• “Artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies are complex and rapidly evolving, as is the regulatory landscape that governs them.”
• “Our efforts to integrate artificial intelligence capabilities into our business may result in additional costs, unintended consequences, such as discrimination or bias, errors in our systems, or other complications, as well as subject us to new or enhanced governmental or regulatory scrutiny or litigation, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of ope...”

Its annual reports, year by year

Sentences naming AI in each annual report, counted by one rule, beside the median report in the Index that year. Each count links its filing. Every company, by year and sector

• Fiscal 20230median 1
• Fiscal 20248median 4
• Fiscal 202511median 10

Headcount by filing year

As reported in each year's annual report, with the filing. A year marked not read had no figure the reading could take from the report's text.

Limits of this reading

• The total is the sum of the stated restaurant count and the manufacturing and support count (rule 2); the collector's 12,900 was the restaurant part.
• The 580 in manufacturing and the Collaboration Center are counted together and split by description (c).
• The U.S. share is not stated as a count.

Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0001628280-26-011296, the filing. Read by Claude Fable 5.1 under rubric version 1, by the method. A company can write to info@stratussc.com to have its reading checked against its filing.