any of us start our days the same way – with breakfast. This meal sets our days up for success, puts us in a good mood, and provides us with fuel to tackle the day’s challenges. These are the same principles that Snooze, a breakfast and brunch restaurant founded in Colorado, serves up to its guests, employees, community, and planet. LIV Sotheby’s International Realty virtually sat down with Snooze’s Chief Marketing Officer, Andrew Jaffe, to talk about how the brand’s social responsibility and sustainability initiatives are truly making breakfast the most important meal of the day.

For anyone who has yet to experience Snooze’s tantalizing twists on breakfast and lunch favorites, this is your sign to stop in. While the flagship restaurant is located in Denver’s Ballpark neighborhood, there are now 50 Snooze locations scattered across the country, each embodying the brand’s “breakfast but different” mindset. You see, the people at Snooze, affectionately referred to as “Snoozers,” believe that pancakes can actually change the world.

“Our perspective is that we want to use our platform as a way to do good in the world,” explained Jaffe. “That manifests in a lot of different ways.”

From the very beginning, Snooze has proudly displayed its commitment to bettering its people and the planet. By working with local charitable organizations, donating 1% of its revenue back into the communities that it serves, and embracing the journey that each individual Snoozer is on, the business is creating cultural change in the restaurant industry.

“One of the things that we often talk about is celebrating our Snoozers’ individuality and making it a part of the fabric of our culture. In turn, that has allowed us to create a really inclusive environment for our Snoozers and our guests,” Jaffe said. “The interaction between the Snoozer, the guest, and the community is something we prioritize every single day at Snooze.”

As a brand, Snooze believes in investing in its Snoozers and its communities. One example of this principle in action can be seen at the restaurant’s original location in Denver’s Ballpark neighborhood. Here, homelessness is an ongoing struggle for people of all ages. Snooze partners with Urban Peak, a non-profit organization that provides services to youth ages 15 through 24 experiencing homelessness, to prepare young people for career success.

“For us, it is incredibly important to try to make a difference in what’s happening in our neighborhoods,” commented Jaffe. “Snooze tries to provide the young people experiencing homelessness with opportunities to grow in a work environment. A lot of these homeless youth are trying to better themselves by learning about interviewing and honing life skills – things that we can pass along to help them be more successful and more hirable. It really only takes a moment to make a difference.”

Not only does Snooze try to be a good neighbor locally, but it is also continually striving to be a better global citizen by incorporating sustainability best practices and responsibly sourced ingredients into its restaurants.

Jaffe said, “Obviously, food plays an important role in the Snooze experience, much like community does. There are a lot of layers to our strategy, but I think some of the most tangible elements are our trash divergence and sustainability efforts.”

Many of us don’t think about what happens to those last bites of delicious food that we just can’t bear to finish once it leaves our table – Snooze does. Through its composting initiative, the business estimates that it has diverted close to 10 million pounds of material from landfills since 2014. With these efforts, Snooze is approaching 90% trash divergence, which is a truly amazing feat within the restaurant business. Even in cities that don’t offer composting services, Snooze upholds its commitment to the planet by purchasing bio-digesters, which are mechanisms that help restaurants compost onsite.

The restaurant has also eliminated much of the single-use plastic materials that others in the industry still heavily rely on, such as plastic straws. By replacing them with biodegradable paper straws, Snooze estimates that 700,000 plastic straws have been reduced from usage.

“It’s amazing how many small things we can all do to make a difference. Simple recycling and composting programs that help us keep much of our waste out of landfills have such a massive impact on the climate issues that we are experiencing today,” Jaffe observed.

In addition to diverting waste from landfills, Snooze is working on offsetting carbon emissions by partnering with Native Energy, a non-profit that creates sustainability solutions, to support local grasslands. Snooze also has a program called One Tree, One Snoozer that aims to balance the give-take relationship it has with nature by planting trees in Guatemala where it sources its coffee beans.

Even before the food hits the tables of hungry patrons, Snooze has considered the effects of its ingredients on the customers and the planet. Through its partnership with the National Young Farmers Coalition and its Snooze Approved program, the restaurant chain strives to create healthier practices for the food and beverage industry.

“Snooze Approved is our strict set of guidelines for anything that comes within our four walls and our ingredients are a big piece of that,” explained Jaffe. “We only use real ingredients that are responsibly sourced and thoughtfully prepared.”

Jaffe explained that the brand is extremely selective with the vendors that it chooses to work with. All suppliers must be “Snooze Approved,” meaning that the ingredients used in their products must be free of artificial supplements and responsibly sourced. Guests can feel confident that the food they order will never contain harmful additives, antibiotics, or hormones. To see the complete list of ingredients that are not found in Snooze’s amazing meals, you can check out the “86’d List” on its website.

“We are extremely transparent about our ingredient list and hold ourselves and our partners accountable to make sure that no preservatives or artificial ingredients find their way into anything that we make. We strongly embrace the clean eating food movement,” stated Jaffe.

For customers and Snoozers, this is just one of the various factors that attract them to the restaurants. With as many options as consumers consumers have today, more often people opt to spend their money with brands that share their perspective on bigger-picture issues.

“A lot of folks want to come to work just to work, but I think our Snoozers want to be a part of something bigger. Our people want to make a positive change and working with us provides a lot of fulfillment by being connected to initiatives that align with their own core values. This is a differentiator for us and something that we hope disrupts the industry,” remarked Jaffe.

As the Snooze empire continues to flourish, more communities across America will be exposed to this forward-thinking culinary experience. When asked about the future of Snooze and the goals it hopes to achieve, Jaffe simply stated “impact.”

He went on to say, “I think impact is a big one for us. We feel responsible to drive change for the environment and the community. We just want to make sure that as we continue to grow, that we expand our impact. The exciting part is the chance to elevate some of these more difficult topics that often arise. Whether it’s social justice issues, sustainability issues, climate issues, or community issues. We see that as a huge opportunity for us through our Snooze experience.”

During a time when there is still so much uncertainty about the future, Snooze is making a difference one pancake, mimosa, and avocado toast at a time. Seeing a Colorado-grown business evoke change on a local and global scale is an inspiring sight for those who dream of making a mark of their own for the betterment of us all.

“It’s just who we are,” assured Jaffe. “We do it because it’s the right thing to do, and we do it because we are really trying to be intentional and mindful of what’s happening around the whole world and right here at home.”

We’ll raise a toast to that! To learn more about Snooze, make a reservation at your local restaurant, or order online, visit snoozeeatery.com.

By Amanda Molitor
Photos by Snooze an A.M. Eatery