About Mahana Fresh
Founded in Sarasota, Florida, Mahana Fresh was built around a simple idea: healthy food should be convenient, fresh, and flavorful.
After decades in franchising, industry veterans Dave Baer and his business partner saw an opportunity to create a healthier dining concept that didn’t force customers to choose between convenience and quality. The result was Mahana Fresh, a fast-casual brand built around fully gluten-free bowls, fresh ingredients, and a commitment to serving food that tastes as good as it makes people feel.
That commitment extends to the kitchen. Mahana Fresh operates without freezers, fryers, or microwaves for its core menu items, preparing proteins, vegetables, and other ingredients fresh daily to deliver a consistently high-quality guest experience rooted in freshness, flavor, and wellness.
As the brand expanded, maintaining that same level of simplicity and consistency became increasingly important across both the guest experience and franchise operations.
The Challenge
Like many growing restaurant brands, Mahana Fresh faced a common challenge: managing multiple technology systems while maintaining a seamless experience for guests and operators.
The team wanted to avoid a fragmented technology stack that required separate systems for ordering, loyalty, messaging, catering, and guest engagement.
At the same time, the brand’s menu presented unique digital ordering challenges. Mahana Fresh’s highly customizable bowl concept required a flexible ordering experience that could clearly showcase product pictures, descriptions, ingredients, options, and nutritional choices while remaining easy for guests to navigate.
The goal was to create a technology ecosystem that was simple for customers, easy for franchisees to use, and scalable as the brand continued to grow.
The Solution
Mahana Fresh selected Incentivio as its digital guest engagement platform because it brought multiple customer-facing experiences together under a single system.
Today, the platform supports:
- Online ordering through web and mobile
- Loyalty and rewards
- Gift cards
- Catering ordering
- Delivery
- Automated guest engagement and messaging
Rather than managing separate vendors for each function, Mahana Fresh can operate through a single integrated platform connected directly to its POS.
“For Mahana Fresh, avoiding a disjointed technology stack was a priority. The team selected Incentivio because it provided the functionality they needed across ordering, loyalty, catering, and guest engagement, while remaining tightly integrated with their POS. This allowed the brand to operate through a single connected ecosystem rather than managing multiple standalone solutions.”
Dave Baer, COO, Mahana Fresh
The team also leverages automated customer journeys that help maintain guest engagement without requiring constant manual oversight. Guests receive personalized communications based on activity, visit frequency, and purchasing behavior, helping the brand stay connected with customers between visits.
For catering and meal plans, Mahana Fresh uses dedicated ordering experiences tailored to each channel, creating a more intuitive experience for guests while simplifying operations for franchisees.
Supporting Franchise Growth
As Mahana Fresh has expanded, maintaining consistency across locations has remained a priority.
The brand established a franchise marketing advisory group early in its growth journey, bringing franchisee feedback directly into marketing and loyalty decisions.
This collaborative approach helps ensure new promotions, rewards structures, and customer engagement strategies align with both corporate objectives and franchisee needs.
The marketing team works closely with Incentivio’s Customer Success team to continually refine the loyalty program, explore new engagement opportunities, and identify ways to help franchisees take a more active role in local marketing initiatives.
The Results
Comparing the six-month period from June 2025 through November 2025 against December 2025 through May 2026, Mahana Fresh continued to see steady growth across key loyalty metrics.
Key Results
- 5.9% increase in loyalty membership
- 8.9% increase in loyalty order net sales
- 10.7% increase in loyalty average check
Nearly half of all loyalty orders are now placed through the brand’s web and mobile ordering channels, demonstrating the growing importance of direct digital engagement within the overall customer experience.
The increase in average check has been particularly encouraging. Features such as suggestive selling and personalized recommendations have helped guests discover additional menu items and create larger orders without adding friction to the ordering process.
Looking Ahead
Mahana Fresh continues to invest in technologies that make it easier for guests to engage with the brand while supporting franchise growth.
The recent rollout of loyalty enrollment directly through Toast’s guest-facing display represents another step toward reducing barriers to participation and expanding the rewards program across all locations.
As the brand prepares to expand into new markets and nearly double its footprint, Mahana Fresh remains focused on creating a guest experience that is simple, connected, and consistent across every channel.
By bringing ordering, loyalty, catering, and guest engagement together under one platform, the brand has created a digital foundation that can grow alongside the business.