Roots Natural Kitchen CEO on defying the narrative of the slop bowl
Take-Away with Sam Oches
Nation's Restaurant News
4.9 • 17 Ratings
🗓️ 9 December 2025
⏱️ 64 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talks with Henry Borgeson, CEO of Roots Natural Kitchen, an 18-unit salad and grain bowl concept that was started by some University of Virginia graduates in Charlottesville a decade ago. The premise was straightforward: make natural food radically accessible to everyday consumers. But history is riddled with examples of restaurateurs who thought they could improve the quality of fast food ingredients but still ended up failing. Henry joined the podcast to talk about how Roots’ approach is different — from its chef-curated bowls to its fast-moving drive thru to its kids-eat free program — and how the brand is defying the narrative around the so-called slop bowl.
In this conversation, you’ll find out why:
- No matter the quality of your menu, you must keep things simple
- You should treat your customers like you’ve invited them to your party
- Younger consumers are natural growth catalysts
- Digital ordering and customization may have given us so-called slop bowls
- Better-for-you fast food is possible if volume capacity is high
Have feedback or ideas for Take-Away? Email Sam at sam.oches@informa.com.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Takeaway with Sam Okas, a podcast for leaders of growing restaurant companies looking to take their businesses to the next level. |
| 0:08.8 | In nearly two decades covering restaurants, I've gained access to some of this industry's most influential decision makers, and I'm letting you in on the conversations. |
| 0:17.8 | In today's episode, you'll hear from the CEO of an emerging fast casual chain |
| 0:22.0 | about how they're successfully upending the paradigm around better for you natural ingredients |
| 0:28.2 | and experiencing exponential growth in the process. Henry Borgison is the CEO of Roots Natural |
| 0:35.5 | Kitchen, an 18-unit salad and grain bowl concept that was started |
| 0:39.2 | by some University of Virginia graduates in Charlottesville about a decade ago. The premise was |
| 0:45.7 | straightforward, make natural food radically accessible to the everyday consumer. But history is |
| 0:52.3 | riddled with examples of restaurateurs who thought they could |
| 0:55.7 | improve the quality of fast food ingredients, but still ended up failing. Henry joined the podcast |
| 1:02.6 | to talk about how Roots' approach is different, from its chef-cureated bowls to its fast-moving |
| 1:08.5 | drive-thrus to its Kids Eat Free program and how the brand is |
| 1:12.7 | define the narrative around the so-called slop bowl. In this conversation, you will learn more about |
| 1:18.3 | why simplicity is king no matter the quality of your menu, why you should treat your customers |
| 1:23.5 | like you've invited them to your party, and why you must ratchet up your volume capabilities |
| 1:29.0 | in order for the better for you food model to work. If you learn something from this episode, |
| 1:34.6 | go follow takeaway wherever you're listening and leave some feedback. It's the best way to get |
| 1:39.0 | those lessons to your fellow restaurant leaders. Jumping out into my interview with Roots Natural Kitchen CEO Henry Borgasen. |
| 1:46.8 | Also, don't forget to stick around after the interview as I will share my five takeaways from |
| 1:50.7 | this discussion, actionable insights that you can take with you on the go. |
| 1:56.7 | Okay, sitting down with Henry Borgasen, the CEO of Roots Natural Kitchen. |
| 2:01.5 | Henry, thanks for sitting down with me today. |
... |
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