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Back to the future: Sweetgreen to accept cash again

After going cashless for more than two years, D.C.-founded salad chain Sweetgreen announced Thursday they will again accept cash in all their restaurants by the end of 2019.

The company announced its cashless policy in 2016, citing safety, hygiene and time as some of the reasons for the change. Though the company said it had positive results, the cashless policy was unintentionally excluding people.

The company said in a post on Medium.com: “Ultimately, we have realized that while being cashless has advantages, today it is not the right solution to fulfill our mission. To accomplish our mission, everyone in the community needs to have access to real food.”

Jonathan Neman and Nicolas Jammet founded the restaurant in 2007 after graduating from Georgetown University. The company’s headquarters moved from D.C. to Southern California in 2016.

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