Noodles & Company Celebrates Pride Month by Pledging $30k to Support Workplace Equality

For the third consecutive year, Noodles spreads Uncommon Goodness and educational awareness through its Pride Crispy  

BROOMFIELD, Colo., May 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Noodles & Company, (NASDAQ: NDLS) the national fast-casual chain known for spreading Uncommon Goodness with its globally inspired noodle bowls, best-in-class service, and values-centric culture, announced today its annual Pride Month give back with the return of its signature Pride Crispy. For the third year, Noodles is pledging to donate up to $30,000 to Out & Equal, the premier organization advocating exclusively for LGBTQIA+ workplace equality, with help from Pride Crispy sales, throughout the month of June. Noodles & Company stands in solidarity with the LGBTQIA+ community and to date, has donated $45,000 to Out & Equal by directly supporting inclusion and equality efforts in the workplace. 

The Pride Crispy will be available for purchase at Noodles & Company restaurants nationwide and online or through the Noodles Rewards App from June 1 to June 30, 2023. Pride Crispy is a delectable, ooey-gooey rainbow rice crispy treat made in-house at Noodles with melted butter, marshmallows, and crispy rice cereal with added rainbow cereal in honor of Pride.  

"For us, Pride Month means continuing to establish an environment where all feel welcomed and cared for, a value that is at the center of everything we do at Noodles," said Sue Petersen, executive vice president of inclusion, diversity, and people. "We are taking direct action through our Out & Equal give back to advance our inclusion and diversity efforts and to further the mission of LGBTQIA+ workplace equality by educating our team members and guests." 

Message in a Crispy 
For the first time, guests will receive more than dessert when a Pride Crispy is purchased. Throughout June, Noodles is promoting education and LGBTQIA+ awareness by placing an interactive QR code on the nutritional sticker of each crispy, called Message in a Crispy. The QR code drives guests to noodles.com/pride where they can learn about LGBTQIA+ facts, history, and commemorate the message that Pride is a celebration of love. In addition, Noodles is introducing the Pride Crispy Cam, encouraging LGBTQIA+ couples to celebrate their love and affection with the world, by submitting a photo for the brand to share on its Instagram stories.  

Noodles' Ongoing Support 
Noodles is dedicated to inclusion and diversity in every aspect of its business and celebrates its team members and community members for their differences year-round. For more than 25 years, Noodles has remained committed to nourishing and inspiring every team member, guest, and community it serves through cultivating a workplace environment where team members can be their most authentic selves.  

As Noodles is committed to putting its people first, the Company remains devoted to its Noodles Resource Groups (NRGs), which were added to its lineup of industry-leading inclusive team member benefits last summer. The PROUD and THRIVE resource groups are impactful platforms that are available for shift managers, assistant general managers, general managers, and above at Noodles. PROUD is focused on elevating LGBTQIA+ team members and allies and THRIVE is centered on elevating BIPOC team members. Noodles Resource Groups are a safe space for team members to come together to share ideas and institutions of support.  

Noodles Leads with Inclusivity + Diversity  
"Our approach to inclusion and diversity is to listen, learn, then act, and we care deeply about our responsibility to elevate our team members' voices," said Ashton Crowther, senior manager of inclusion and diversity. "At Noodles, we have a dedicated Inclusion & Diversity Advisory Council and established a DEI newsletter and inbox to receive real-time feedback from our team members. The concept for the Pride Crispy came from a team member and we will continue to foster an environment where our actions are directly influenced by our team members." 

To cultivate an environment where all feel welcomed and safe, several of Noodles' industry-leading team member benefits directly impact its LGBTQIA+ team members, including six weeks of paid parental leave, surrogacy, and adoption assistance of up to $10K, and gender-neutral bathrooms in Noodles restaurants across the country. Through the Noodles Self-ID program, team members are also encouraged to list their pronouns on name badges so all team members, guests and the community can properly address them. Added uniform options are also available with inclusive messaging, like "All Noodles Welcome." Noodles also partnered with the National Restaurant Association to provide training on Understanding Unconscious Bias in Restaurants.  

Join Noodles Rewards Today  
For even more offers and goodness, guests can sign up to join Noodles Rewards for free via the Noodles mobile app, or the Noodles website. Upon signing up, new members receive a free entree after their first purchase using their Noodles Rewards account and immediately start earning points with every order. Members also have access to exclusive offers such as birthday rewards and the all-new Extra Goodness platform, which guarantees "always-on" rewards for members. Guests can conveniently get their noodle-fix via quick pickup, curbside pick-up, or delivery by placing an order online at noodles.com, via the Noodles mobile app, or by visiting their nearby Noodles location. For more information please visit https://www.noodles.com/rewards/.  

About Noodles & Company  

Since 1995, Noodles & Company has been serving guests Uncommon Goodness and noodles your way, with noodles and flavors you know and love as well as new ones you're about to discover. From indulgent Wisconsin Mac & Cheese to better-for-you Zoodles and Other Noodles, the company serves a world of flavor in every bowl. Made up of more than 450 restaurants and thousands of passionate team members and named one of America's Favorite Restaurants by Newsweek, and one of the Top 500 Franchises by Franchise Times, Noodles is well-known for its delicious noodles and industry-leading team member benefits. Noodles has been recognized by Forbes as one of America's Best Employers for Diversity in 2021, 2022 and 2023 and one of America's Best Employers for Women in 2021. Additionally, QSR recently named Noodles one of 2022's Best Brands to Work For, and the Denver Business Journal has called Noodles one of 2023's Best Places to Work for its unique culture focused on Uncommon Goodness and built on the value of "Loving Life," which begins by nourishing and inspiring its communities and every team member and guest who walks through the door. The company has also earned the Women in the Lead Certification for its investment in women-empowering initiatives for its female team members and has proudly partnered with the Multicultural Foodservice & Hospitality Alliance to build cultural intelligence within its teams. To learn more and to find the location nearest you, visit www.noodles.com.  

Press Contact: Danielle Moore, Press@Noodles.com

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