The cyclospora outbreak may not have caused Salad & Go’s bankruptcy, but, coupled with ever-shifting consumer attitudes and the economy in general, it may have convinced the fast-casual restaurant chain there was no point in hanging on, experts told The Food Institute.

Salad & Go filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on August 4 and announced it would close all 70 remaining locations. A day later, Dutch Bros announced it planned to acquire 65 of the sites in Arizona, Nevada, Oklahoma, and Texas to “expand our leadership position.”

Bidding for former Salad & Go sites has continued in recent days, including among coffee-centric chains like Dutch Bros and 7 Brew.

Attorney Daniel Gielchinsky said declining customer demand and too-rapid expansion likely doomed the chain, along with “strategic and operational missteps, leadership turnover, rising operating costs that are being experienced industrywide, and finally, a loss of consumer confidence after the outbreak.”