Chipotle Swot Analysis

Chipotle is a fast casual dining restaurant. It was opened in 1993 by Steve Ells. This paper will discuss the quick success of the restaurant and the sudden fall of the company as well. It will look at the growth statistics of the company, its investors, what caused this company to plummet so quickly, and what could have been done differently to avoid this outcome. Steve Ells loved to cook at an early age. He would cook and host dinner parties for his friends while in college but still never considered the idea of becoming a chef. After some coaxing from his friends and family, Ells enrolled in the Culinary Institute of America. Upon completion of this, Ells went to work at a restaurant named Stars as a sous chef. A sous chef is second in

SWOT stands for strength, weakness, opportunities, and threats. To begin let us first examine the strengths. The strength would be the original concept that made Chipotle a brand name to begin with. Consumers love the idea of getting fast, fresh, Mexican style burritos or a burrito bowl with all organic ingredients. Ells took this idea from a local taco shop that he observed after he graduated from culinary school. This quick, fast Mexican idea proved to be profitable for Ells. However, in the long run the company must have taken some shortcuts from where they were getting their meat originally. I believe it became harder and harder to get a supply of poultry and beef not receiving antibiotics or hormones. This led to a new distributor that could have possibly sold them products under a false pretense. This would be an example of a weakness. Chipotle did inform consumers that some of their meat would not be solely from an organic source; however, this should not have translated into getting food infected with viruses. After all of the events that have transpired Chipotle is now considering getting a board of food and safety to oversee the safety of their products. This should have already been in place, especially when Chipotle’s model was based on food integrity. This could be an example of opportunity. An opportunity for the company to correct their mistakes that have cost the company a tremendous amount of revenue and respect in the food industry. Another opportunity available to Chipotle is to make its company more diverse. The board has all white mostly male members. By diversifying the board, this could lead to a broader view of how to get the company back on track and to help rebuild the trust of the company after the outbreaks of viruses from their