MAD Greens, Golden, Colo., and Snappy Salads, Dallas, Texas, merged into Salad Collective to better position both concepts in the fast-casual salad space.

MAD Greens and Snappy Salads will continue to operate under their respective brand names as salad-centric concepts dedicated to fresh and flavor-filled offerings. Salad Collective will continue to focus on hospitality, fresh ingredients, driving sales through multiple channels and creating opportunities to grow both salad brands.

Darden Coors was named chief executive officer and John Montgomery was appointed president of Salad Collective. Chris Dahlander, founder and CEO of Snappy Salads, is stepping down from day-to-day operations, but will assume a role on the Salad Collective board of directors.

"Both MAD Greens and Snappy Salads have a long history in fast-casual salads, offering their customers fresh, great-tasting healthy meals," says Dahlander. "We are very excited to form this partnership and pool our collective resources to deliver greater value to our customers and our shareholders." 

"Each brand brings a talented leadership group, strong store performance and a focus on serving our customers through various channels. Working together, we will leverage best practices, technologies and expertise across both brands to be even stronger in our respective markets," adds Montgomery.

The MAD Greens brand includes 33 locations in Colorado, Arizona and Texas. Snappy Salads includes 14 locations in the Dallas/Fort Worth metro area. Each brand's restaurants offer hand-crafted, customizable salads as well as wraps, soups and sides.