Chipotle

Fascinated by the simple cost-effective business models he observed at small burrito shops in San Francisco, Steve Ells founded the first Chipotle Mexican Grill in 1993 near the University of Denver. By putting his own spin on the traditional casual dinning approach, Chipotle is now an enormously successful publicly traded company with over 1,000 locations in 38 states.

Steve Ells, Founder and Co-CEO of Chipotle Mexican Grill Restaurant, states that, “Our focus on our unique people and food culture has created an impressive demand for a restaurant experience that is redefining fast food for the better.” This statement from Ells displays the foundation of Chipotle Restaurant’s success with their fast casual brand. This industry has grown 550% since 1999 due to customers seeking out fast yet healthier alternatives for their lunch and dinner (Ferdman, 2015).

Chipotle Mexican Grill was a concept turned reality by a gentleman by the name of Steve Ells. Chipotle Mexican Grill provides excellent Mexican cuisine driven by a concept of “Food with Integrity”. The first chipotle Mexican grill was opened in 1993 in Denver Colorado. By the end of 1995 there were three. In 1996 alone, Steve Ells opened five more Denver-area restaurants growing by a total of eight stores in three years. By 1998 Chipotle Mexican Grill was showing much promise. In order to meet their growth needs Chipotle took on outside investors.

Limited Locations – Because of the standards that Chipotle has set on themselves they cannot open location anywhere, they must have the business and the infrastructure in place to grow the locations profitability. Most of the competition doesn’t have the same restrictions on setting up new locations, as we’ve seen the many McDonalds locations across the country.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Incorporated has always had a great reputation for being an inexpensive, high quality, fast-food chain. That reputation suddenly diminished when the company had to close 43 restaurants in Oregon and Washington State towards the end of 2015. An E.coli outbreak had emerged at six restaurants in that region, and soon afterwards the same was reported in seven other states. Health officials cited a particular restaurant at Boston College for improper handling of poultry and the presence of a sick employee after 80 students had become ill after eating there. The cause was a common virus, norovirus. After instances of contaminated food, Chipotle was being thoroughly questioned about their pledge for serving “food with integrity.”

Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) was founded in Denver, Colorado in 1993. It began when American’s were visiting fast food chains on a much more regular basis than in years past. Places like McDonald’s, Burger King, and Taco Bell initially seemed to be competition for Chipotle. However, a recent shift towards healthy eating, organic produce, and grass-fed meats has shifted the favor towards Chipotle. At the end of 2015, Chipotle Mexican Grill owned and operated 1,971 locations in the United States alone. CMG also owns and operates thirteen ShopHouse Southeast Asia chains along with being an investor in three Pizzeria Locale restaurants.

Chipotle Mexican Grill was originally opened in 1993, in Denver, Colorado. By 1996, there were eight Chipotle serving the Denver area. Chipotle brings on outside investors in 1998, and by 1999 McDonald’s became Chipotle’s majority holder. The company went public in 2006 and listed under NYSE with symbol: CME. As of Dec 2011, the company operates 1,230 restaurants in the U.S., two in Toronto, Canada, and two in London, England. The founder and CEO, Steve Ells, started with a philosophy known as “Food With Integrity” in 2001. This philosophy encompasses the fact that Chipotle wants to offer food that is “sustainable sources – naturally raised meat – locally or organically grown – and fresh” (Chipotle Mexican Grill,

In 1993, Steven Ells opened a taqueria in Denver, Colorado built on the idea of offering the highest quality food with an open kitchen concept. This restaurant was named Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG or Chipotle) and competes in what is defined as the fast casual segment. The fast casual segment offers consumers a portable convenient meal option while focusing on using the freshest, highest quality ingredients to prepare the customizable made-to-order meals (Subramanian, 2013). There are two other restaurant segments in which fast casual restaurants compete: full service and quick service. According to a conference call on October 18, 2012, CMG began recognizing its slowing sales, increased competition and rising food cost during a depressed economy. Since then, CMG’s sustainability and business strategy have been questioned as to whether CMG can continue operations as a major competitor while regaining its financial health.

In 1993, Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) was established in Denver by college graduate and classically trained chef, Steve Ells. The initial startup saw CMG focused on offering limited menu choices which include burritos, burrito bowls, tacos, salads, soft drink, fruits drinks and milk. CMG menu is classically prepared and customers have the opportunity to dine in elegance at a reasonable cost. CMG business model is crafted in line with the company’s’ “Food with integrity” mission by providing the best quality, farm fresh healthy food by keeping a limited menu. The company prides itself on using organically grown local produce and meats that are free of antibiotics and hormones and which is in compliance with governmental

coli, but of those 60, 22 got so sick they had to go to the hospital. Having such an outbreak that affected so many people and made many sick would be detrimental to any company within the food industry. It is even more detrimental for Chipotle because of the image that they had created for themselves. They pushed to their customers that they were the best when it came to fresh ingredients, and a lot of people bought into that. According to Berfield (2015), Chipotle’s marketing efforts they made sure that consumers saw the “evils” in industrial agriculture that other fast food places use to get their ingredients.

Chipotle's burrito is meant to match taste for non-Hispanic white and people that have embraced a healthier way of life and spending. They are purchasing less, and are searching for more prominent quality in their buys. In today's economy, fiscally careful purchasers are searching for more noteworthy worth with a right mix of item quality and great service at a reasonable cost. Chipotle makes a sound pattern by serving high quality food at moderate costs. This pattern has prompted new markets to those purchasers that are searching for fast food with a sound viewpoint. Chipotle has made a society that influences society's conduct towards solid sustenances and natural fixings. Chipotle has great awareness toward their natural ingredients and practices that bolster environmental sustainability for their organic ingredients and meats. Chipotle's statement of purpose aims to respond to its customer’s interest for more quality at reasonable

First, here is some history about the company. Chipotle was founded by Steve Ells in July 1993, Chipotle had 16 restaurants (all in Colorado) when McDonald 's Corporation became a major investor in 1998. By the time McDonald 's fully divested itself from Chipotle in 2006, [15] the chain had grown to over 500 locations. The model they have on their page about chipotle and how it started was stated; “When Chipotle opened its first restaurant in 1993, the idea was simple: show that food served fast didn 't have to be a “fast-food” experience. “Using high-quality raw ingredients, classic cooking techniques, and distinctive interior design, we brought features from the realm of fine dining to the world of quick-service restaurants.” (Chipotle, 2004). There motto from the beginning got them a lot of press, they were making a lot of money just selling burritos, salad, and burrtitos bowls.

Chipotle first opened in Denver in 1993 with a simple idea behind it, “food served fast didn’t have to be “fast-food” experience”, (Chipotle Mexican Grill, 2015). Prior to CEO Steve Ellis opening the restaurant chain, he himself was a chef. Since its creation, Chipotle has become a phenomenon in the restaurant industry and has experienced tremendous growth since it went public in 2006 with over 1,600 restaurants in Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, and France, with the majority located in the United States (Chipotle Mexican Grill, 2015).

Nowadays, we often hear the phrase time is money. Hence, the majority of people have no option but to live in a fast pace time and a fast food industry. The value of time has increased so significantly that people are focused on utilizing time focusing on their leisure/career than in the kitchen. Since the turn of the century, the number of fast food industry has evolved extensively to meet the demand of people in the market. Out of numerous fast food industries, Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) has established itself as one of the major competitors in the market. With over two decades of history, CMG has been one of the big boys in the fast food industry. It has created its own image as one of the fast-food distributors who focuses on naturally grown food. Established in 1993 by the founder Steve Ells in Denver, Colorado, CMG has more than 2,000 stores worldwide (Chipotle, 2016).

The first Chipotle opened in Denver, Colorado in 1993, the business has now been operating almost 20 years.