John Scardapane, CEO of Saladworks, the nation’s first and largest fresh-tossed salad franchise concept, has been chosen as ‘Chief Executive Officer Of The Year’ by SmartCEO magazine.
SmartCEO magazine, a prominent regional publication, honored him at the Philadelphia SmartCEO Business Awards gala on May 11, 2011. Prominent members of Philadelphia’s business community attended the gala, which also honored ten area business leaders with Philadelphia SmartCEO 2011 Circle of Excellence Award. Saladworks was also included in SmartCEO’s “Future 50” list in April, 2011, celebrating the region’s 50 fastest-growing companies based on employee and revenue growth over the past three years.
“At a time when salads were relegated to side-dish status, John Scardapane envisioned a restaurant concept that created the nation’s first and largest fresh-tossed salad franchise concept,” said Jaime Nespor, Publisher of Philadelphia SmartCEO magazine. “After 25 years of steady growth, Saladworks is poised to achieve ‘overnight success’ with planned expansion to 500 international locations by 2015. Through his pioneering vision and focus on core values, Scardapane has risen as a leader in his community and his industry. For these achievements, SmartCEO honors him as our 2011 CEO of the Year.”
Founded in 1986 with a single location at a New Jersey mall food court, Saladworks is celebrating its 25 year anniversary in September. It is a $63 million company and runs more than 100 locations in twelve states. Saladworks prides itself on providing consistent, long term support to franchisees, which sets it apart from other franchise concepts. Most franchisees are multi unit owners, which is a testament to their loyalty to the brand and scalability of Saladworks.
Accepting the award, Scardapane thanked the entire Saladworks team. “I am here because of our extraordinary home office staff, our ambitious franchisees and all our strategic partners. When I started Saladworks, I was working as a chef in a New Jersey country club. I wanted to open my own restaurant and I was looking for an original idea. I noticed that salad sales were growing at the club and I sensed a strong need for this concept. However, every single banker and mall landlords shot my business plan down. But I persisted and succeeded in getting a mall location at Cherry Hill Mall, New Jersey. We worked hard and the business was successful almost instantly! People just loved our fresh salads and our ‘fanatical’ customer service. After operating twelve successful locations, we started franchising Saladworks in 2001.”
Thanking his mentor Vernon Hill, CEO of Commerce Bank, Scardapane said, “Vernon has proven to be an invaluable mentor. Thanks to his support and guidance, we are currently negotiating several diverse international deals.” He also thanked his wife, Gail Scardapane, Vice President, Public Relations and his mother, Joan Scardapane, who believed in the concept and helped with the training and design of Saladworks when it was a budding company.
Saladworks, the nation’s first and largest fresh-tossed salad franchise concept operates over 100 franchise locations in 12 states. In addition to existing stores, the chain currently has over 60 units in development across the country. Saladworks locations offer a “fanatic’ly fresh” menu of flavorful salads with signature dressings, proprietary soups, Fusion and panini sandwiches. With the addition of the True Nutrition menu, Saladworks’ varieties of signature salads all average less than 300 calories. Saladworks was voted the nation’s number one salad franchise by Entrepreneur Magazine for 2009, 2010 and 2011 and industry leader QSR magazine showcased the brand as “10 Best Franchise Deals” in 2010 and 2011.