How Storytime Tripled Carrot Express's Creator Activity in 1 Month

About Carrot Express

Carrot Express didn’t begin in a polished storefront or with a major expansion plan. It started in 1993 as a small kiosk tucked inside a Miami gas station, where founder Mario began serving wraps, bowls, and cold-pressed juices inspired by modernized versions of his family’s recipes.

More than three decades later, that once-unassuming kiosk has grown into one of Miami’s most recognizable healthy fast-casual brands, and Carrot Express is now making its mark in New York, with six locations open and more on the way.

But the brand isn’t standing still. Carrot Express is entering a new chapter, gradually dropping “Express” from its stores to reflect the name customers already use, while redesigning its locations to create a more elevated experience.

Even as the brand evolves, pieces of its earliest days remain woven into the menu. The “Liv Wrap,” still one of its best sellers, was named after Olivia, a loyal customer at the original gas station kiosk whose regular order became iconic enough to earn a permanent place on the menu.

Breaking Into a New Market Without a Local Audience

In Miami, Carrot Express had years of momentum behind it. New York was a completely different story. Carrot Express was entering one of the most competitive food markets in the world without an established creator network, a local audience, or the word-of-mouth recognition it had earned in Miami. With six new locations spread across the city, awareness could not be built all at once. It had to be earned neighbourhood by neighbourhood and community by community.

The team was also clear about what it did not want: broad exposure for the sake of visibility. The goal was not to reach everyone in New York. It was to reach the right people. The ones who lived, worked, and spent time near each store.

Over 300 Local Creators and 2 Million Impressions in 1 month

Between January and July 2026, Carrot Express completed over a thousand collaborations with local creators across New York. Together, those creators generated millions of impressions, including over half a million local impressions from New York City–based audiences only.

The results point to more than one-time exposure, over 400 collaborations occurred beyond each creator’s initial visit, showing that many creators did not simply try Carrot once. They returned, continued posting, and became part of the community growing around the brand.

In May 2026, activity surged to 300 collaborations in a single month, three times the brand’s previous monthly average and more than 150% higher than April.

Adding to the momentum, Carrot Express and Storytime hosted a dedicated activation celebrating the opening of a new location, bringing 30 local creators together in person. The event gave creators an opportunity to experience the brand collectively, produce content in real time, and deepen their connection with Carrot Express. That was only one part of a much larger month of sustained creator activity.

The clearest sign of success came afterward. Rather than falling back to its previous baseline, Carrot Express maintained an average of nearly 200 collaborations per month across June and July, 87% above its pre-event monthly average.

The activation did not create Carrot Express’s creator community. It amplified one that was already growing, helping turn a record-breaking month into lasting, neighborhood-level momentum.

Why Local Reach Matters More Than Follower Count

For Carrot Express, the goal was never to reach the biggest possible audience. It was to reach the right one. Storytime approves creators based on local reach: how many people in New York are actually viewing their content, rather than relying on total follower count alone. That approach aligned closely with the way the Carrot Express team already thought about creator marketing.

The reasoning was simple: a large following does not always translate into local influence or genuine interest. With bigger creators, it can also be difficult to tell where paid promotion ends and authentic enthusiasm begins.

Micro-creators offered something different. They were choosing Carrot Express from a range of available collaborations, visiting the locations themselves, and sharing the experience with audiences who were more likely to live nearby.

That choice carried weight. As the team put it, the fact that creators were actively choosing to come to Carrot Express said something on its own.

Her reasoning was practical. With larger creators it is often unclear what is paid and what is genuine. With micro creators choosing a collab from a list of options, the choice itself carries signal. As she put it, “the fact that they are coming to us says something”.

Measurable Impact

For a brand still establishing itself in New York, visibility could not stop at impressions. It needed to translate into recognition, store visits, repeat discovery, and genuine advocacy.

That local concentration made every post more valuable. Each piece of content became a personal recommendation delivered by a New York creator to an audience that could actually act on it. Followers were not simply learning about a brand in another city or scrolling past an inaccessible product. They were being introduced to a restaurant they could visit that same day.

As more creators posted, that visibility began to compound. Carrot Express was no longer relying on one large campaign or a handful of recognizable names to introduce the brand. Hundreds of individual recommendations appeared across different neighborhoods, social circles, and audience segments, creating the feeling that Carrot Express was suddenly everywhere.

The opening of the Upper West Side location demonstrated how that digital momentum could translate into physical attendance. The activation took place over Fourth of July weekend, one of the most difficult times to host an event in New York, when much of the city leaves for the holiday. Despite the timing, Storytime brought enough local creators through the doors to fill the space and create immediate energy around the new location.

That kind of repeated, highly specific endorsement is difficult to manufacture. It feels credible because it comes from personal experience and because the creator continues choosing the brand long after the initial collaboration.

This was the campaign’s most meaningful result: Carrot Express did not simply receive content. It built a network of local customers who repeatedly introduced the brand to their own communities, turning online exposure into in-store traffic, repeat visits, and sustained neighbourhood-level awareness.