The Sudden Disappearance of Fresh&Co Explained

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I walk into Fresh&Co for an overpriced chia yogurt, my usual midday pick-me-up. I go over to the fridge where I always grab my yogurt.

But to my surprise, its not there.

A quick sweep around the place and I realized that not only is my yoghurt nowhere to be found but neither were my favorite employees. Needless to say, I was confused. But I wrote the changes off as high-turnover and refreshed menu in an ever-evolving city.

It wasn’t until Nick Beckman walked in and I overheard him say to his girlfriend Megan LeBlanc, “How could they do this?” that I realized the place I was in wasn’t Fresh&Co at all.

In my New York rush, I had overlooked the obvious. I walked outside to look at the sign, it read ‘Flavors’. Overnight, literally, Fresh&Co had changed to Flavors. The three of us were dumbfounded and I needed to find answers.

Some primary research into the storefront revealed that the Flavors at 74 Broad street lost its lease after 10 years of service to the Financial district.

A searing loss to the community.

But what’s more interesting are the actions that were taken after the lost lease. While the two fast-casual restaurants are similar in style, they do not share the same menu or website; there was seemingly no connection.

Overnight, literally, Fresh&Co had changed to Flavors.

An interview with the manager and operator of the new Flavors revealed all. He said, “Flavors and Fresh&Co are two separate corporations run by the same guy.”

That guy is co-founder and CEO George Tenedois.

After the lost lease on Broad street, Tenedois and other executives decided to push all Fresh&Co restaurants above Canal Street, while Flavors remains exclusively downtown. Therefore, Flavors took over 42 Broadway. Mystery solved, well, almost.

If you regularly ate at Fresh&Co, do expect to some more changes than just the name. Both companies have fairly similar goals and fast-casual service but source from different farmers. The manager insured me this was in favor of the customer as Flavors is traditionally cheaper than Fresh&Co.

Some of the students and staff of King’s are not so convinced.

Fisher Derderian, an esteemed alum and staff member of King’s does not feel like the change was for the better. Fisher was a loyal patron of Fresh&Co but has taken his business elsewhere.

“Flavors is just not the same. Something tastes less genuine about my favorite chickpea salad. Definitely not as fresh as it used to be, if you know what I mean," Derderian said. 

Bad puns aside, there other tragedies involving the switch. If you use food apps such as LevelUp, prepared to part with your credits you earned at Fresh&Co. As a junior student, Jon Adler found out when he tried to cash out.

“I’m upset about the change, they’re definitely scammers," Adler said.

“It’s basically the same thing babe!”

Other damages and costs to the student body, staff, and faculty are still being calculated.

Student Development staff member, Leticia Mosqueda, tweeted “both things suck… I wish they’d change it to something else."

While another change does not seem likely for 42 Broadway, The King’s College is accustomed to real estate changes. We can certainly overcome this together.

As LeBlanc remarked to Beckman on the opening day of Flavors, “It’s basically the same thing babe!”