is Steve Ells. Steve opened his first Chipotle restaurant in 1993, with the goal of showing that a fast food restaurant does not have to mean it has to be a “fast food” restaurant experience. Chipotle is headquartered in Denver, Colorado and has locations throughout the United States, Canada, England, France, and Germany (Forbes, 2015). There are about 53,000 employees in the United States, and more than 1,900 locations worldwide (Berfield, 2015). Chipotle hopes to continue to increase its market share and take more customers away from industry leaders such as McDonald’s by focusing on its “differentiated strategy, unique brand, and food philosophy” (Prentice,
Over the years, Chipotle has kept a lot of things constant. Why? Because they want their customers to come back with the same expectations and satisfaction. To evolve is the only way for a company to grow. Apparently that is all it takes to have fast casual restaurant.
Chipotle is currently categorized as Mexican-style fast casual dining. What Chipotle differs from fast food industry is the highest quality food and a more appealing environment. Meals have a typically higher price than at a fast food restaurant, but food is prepared using healthier fresh ingredients. Their main competitions that are in the same industry as Chipotle Mexican-style dining are Qdoba Restaurant Corporation; Fresh Enterprises, LLC; Mswg, LLC; and Rubio's Coastal Grill.
Chipotle Mexican Grill is a fast, casual restaurant that is mainly known for its bowls and large burritos and became popular by advertising on all sorts of platforms like music platforms and others that may reach a younger audience. The company made its initial public offering in January 2006. The company’s main objective is “ensuring that better food is accessible to everyone” (Chipotle Website). The founder of Chipotle sought to change people’s perspectives on fast-food and wanted to change the experience as well which led to the success and increasing popularity of the restaurant.
Chipotle give experience to customer from entrance of the restaurant until they order their foods. The company allows people customize their own foods. Chipotle make its company differentiate from other by using high quality of ingredients and serving freshest foods. It focuses on people who love delicious healthy foods. Moreover, the company always promotes its products by giving free burrito on some holiday and the first day of grand opening restaurant (Chang, 2014).
The reason for such a phenomenon may be that Chipotle are much regarded as business-casual restaurants, and customers prefer to have meals in Chipotle by themselves or with their classmates and colleagues instead of with families. To expand their customer portfolio, Chipotle can try to attract customers who have families, providing services or meal options for children. On the business side, Chipotle corporate with Tapingo, a mobile commerce application that provides ordering and delivering services with college students. So that Chipotle can expand their markets and have more potential customers. In terms of pricing, Chipotle charges a premium price.
Company Description Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc is a Delaware-founded corporation that manages and operates Chipotle Mexican Grill eateries throughout the country. There are 44 international Chipotle restaurants and 2,918 restaurants in the United States (Annual Report). Chipotle serves responsibly sourced, traditionally prepared, real cuisine with healthful ingredients in an effort to create a better world. Chipotle serves a customizable menu of burritos, burrito bowls, tacos, salads, and quesadillas. Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (CMG) is a market leader in the fast-casual dining sector and faces three main rivals (Segal, 2022).
Bargaining power of buyers is high as there are many substitutes readily available and preferences tend to change over time. Rivalry amongst competitors is strong since there are so many different fast food restaurants, sit-down restaurants, stores like WholeFoods Market etc available to the consumers with similar or completely different menus. Chipotle’s main competitors are Qdoba, Moe’s Southwest Grill and Taco Bell which all offer Mexican food, mostly organic with the same menus as Chipotle targeting the same
Chipotle is a leading company in the growing fast-casual dining market. Established by C.E.O Steve Ells in Denver, Colorado in 1993, Chipotle soon made an impression on its customers by providing food with high-quality raw ingredients and classic cooking methods to create great tasting, reasonably priced dishes that are readily served to customer’s within minutes after being ordered. The food Chipotle offers is simple and includes burritos, burrito bowls, tacos and salads, plus soft drink, fruit drinks, beer, and milk. However, customers can customize their own options including different meats, beans, rice and vegetables. They keep an assembly line setup in all of their restaurants which helps cut down on time/resources when helping customers.
Founded in 1993, Chipotle Mexican Grill is a restaurant chain that is known mostly for its burritos and burrito bowls. The restaurant also serves tacos, salads, kids meals, and
Chipotle is in the fast casual industry where competition is extremely intense since there are so many different dining options. An industry like fast casual restaurants has a very high growth rate therefore there is not just one company that has the market cornered. What sets the restaurants apart is not cost but product differentiation; they position themselves in the market with their slogan of Food with Integrity. Since restaurants in the fast casual industry are priced fairly in the same range Chipotle uses different product features to set themselves apart from the others (parature.com). The first value driver in Chipotle’s differentiation strategy is the product quality; they utilize local farmers who are conscience of the environment.
Their unique and original fast food experience made them different and the best. It has been 20 years since they first began and their hard work paid off since, more than 1,500 restaurants were born. They compete in a category of dining now called "fast-casual," which is the fastest growing segment of the restaurant industry (chipotle.com). Fast casual is where customers expect food quality that's more in line with full-service restaurants, coupled with the speed and
Since Steve Ells founded Chipotle Mexican Grill in 1993, the fast casual dining industry has undergone a transformation. In order to examine Chipotle’s business model, this essay will address important issues like the company’s operations, products, size, market presence, competitors, and the unique qualities that set it apart from the rest. Starting off, Chipotle is a fast casual restaurant specializing in Mexican cuisine. Unlike traditional fast food chains, Chipotle focuses on providing high quality, prepared food quickly and efficiently, blending the convenience of fast food with the quality and ambiance of a casual dining experience. The company’s motto is, “Food with Integrity” this reflects their dedication to using organic and local
-Low threat of new entrant ( High input costs ) Threats -Input costs are increasing and fluctuating (beef price is rising and some ingredients such as wheat price is fluctuating) -All the restaurant’s segments are competitors and are not only competing at their own segment but also with other segments (e.g. Chipotle Competes with meals prepared at home as well as frozen or packaged food items available in supermarkets) -People reduce eating out spending economics recession and this might affect Chipotle -Competitor’s pricing strategy – competitors such as Taco Bell are offering similar products with reduced prices to compete for Chipotle’s market share -High threat of substitute fast food ( variety of choices for consumers) Situational Analysis for Chipotle Alternative Actions and Evaluation of Alternatives Alternatives Pros Cons 1. Differentiation Strategy by “ Food with Integrity” ( current Strategy) -Differentiate from competitors -Get more attraction because of unique style of serving -Rising food prices -Need for more produce as raw material inputs -Low awareness than other brand due to their marketing style of loyalty and word of mouth
Some of the strategies Chipotle implemented in order to appeal to their existing target market and capture new markets were; • Promoting its increasingly green farm-to-table-to-consumer supply chain. It launched a multi-pronged initiative to “change the way people think about what they eat,” building on their original “Food with Integrity” vision. In 2011, they initiated a new campaign entitled “Cultivate
