Chipotle Marketing Plan

Chipotle Mexican Grill is one the fastest growing restaurant businesses in the United States. Chipotle Mexican Grill was founded by the current CEO, Steve Ells, in 1993. Chipotle headquarters are located at 1401 Wynkoop Street, Denver, Colorado 80202. The company operates in the restaurant industry and more specifically the fast casual Mexican restaurant market.

When Chipotle opened its first store in 1993, the idea was simple: demonstrate that food served fast didn 't have to be a "fast-food" experience (Chipotle.com, 2010). Chipotle uses high-quality raw ingredients, classic cooking methods and a distinctive interior

In 1993, the first Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurant (pronounced chi-POAT-lay) in Denver, Colorado was opened by CEO and founder, Steve Ellis after he received $165,000 in investments from a bank loan and his father (Pederson). Ellis, a Culinary Institute of America grad and former chef, started the company’s first restaurant to raise money needed to one day operate his own full-service restaurant (Berta). The company’s menu includes burritos, tacos, salads and burrito bowls (burritos without the tortilla) made with customers’ choices of pork, shredded beef, chicken, steak, beans, veggies, and burrito condiments (sour cream, salsa, etc.) (annual report). When Chipotle was first established, Ellis did not like the restaurant’s closed

Steve Ells started Chipotle in 1993, and expanded the chain to over 400 stores within 12 years. Chipotle is supported by the financial power and sprawling distribution network of owner McDonald 's Corp, and is the largest Mexican-style concept among a number of fast-casual competitors that also have been picked up by quick-service companies in recent years (Peters, 2005).

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.

Since 1993, Chipotle has opened more than 400 stores, and plan to continue to grow and opening more stores. Though they have not reached a global level they continue to reach to that goal. With the growth they were having they said it would be around 40,000 people to staff in its restaurants. He’s focus to not only grow but to help the economy. “Not only are more job opportunities opening up, but Chipotle is also continuing to set a great example for other food companies, that naturally-raised meat, hormone-free food and organic produce can be used for large chain restaurants”. (Ells)

Chipotle has opened their stores in few countries such as the UK, the US, Canada, Germany and France. It is now time for the corporation to follow the lead from other companies like Yum. Brands such as KFC and Taco Bell as well as McDonalds expand their footprint in the Asian market like Japan. For example, Chipotle operates less than 2,000 restaurants in only 5 countries, while McDonalds operates more than 35,000 restaurants in 119 countries, and Taco Bell, another Mexican restaurant, operates 6,500 restaurants in 20 countries which shows that the Chipotle could do better if it expands its business.

This paper explores the mission, vision, values and principles of Chipotle Mexican Grill that guide them in the restaurant industry. Their key mission, vision, and values revolve around providing food with integrity and changing the way people think about and eat fast food. Chipotle’s principles include sticking to the basics of a simple menu and uncomplicated, interactive employee roles.

The Chipotle Mexican Grille opened its first store in 1993 beginning a new category in the restaurant industry known as “fast casual” (About Us, 2014). This new category featured the “highest quality raw ingredients, classic cooking methods, and distinctive interior design-features that are more frequently found in the world of fine dining.” However, aside from the normally long wait in lines, an order could be taken and served in only a couple minutes. Currently Chipotle operates more than 1,500 restaurants internationally. The following pages will present a balanced approach to the effectiveness of Chipotle’s strategy analyzing financial performance, customer satisfaction, employee/learning and growth, and internal process.

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.

Management is the backbone of any good company. In order for a company to successful, a strong management team is needed in order to meet goals in an effective and efficient manner. Chipotle opened its doors in 1993 when Steve Ells took a chance and began his business in San Francisco. Chipotle is a chain of Mexican restaurants that is based in Denver. Chipotle is often cited as the company that started the fast casual movement where customers can get a healthy prepared meal quicker than other traditional styled restaurant. The fast casual restaurant concept was well received and Chipotle’s popularity expanded all across the United States. Customers could not get enough of the Mexican chain and massive lines could be seen stretching outside the stores all across the country. Along with its popular food, Chipotle Mexican Style Grill is a company that contains a successful management style. Why? What sets this companies management apart from the rest? There are many factors that we could analyze to understand the success of Chipotle, yet for the purpose of this paper, we will look into the cooperate culture of the company, human resource management, their leadership style, and how Chipotle deals with and how the company manages in times of crisis.

Steve Ells is the founder and CEO of Chipotle. Steve is a trained chef and opened his first Chipotle store in 1993 at a former Dolly Madison ice cream store in Denver, Colorado. His goal was to serve high quality, delicious food quickly and in a “fast-casual” setting (Ells).

Chipotle Mexican Grill is an American restaurant chain that currently has more than 1700 locations, with most of its locations in the U.S. and several in Canada and Europe. Chipotle has been gradually expanding its international presence since it opened its first location outside the U.S., in Toronto in 2008 (International Strategy, 2015). The restaurant now has 17 locations outside of the U.S. including locations in London, Paris, and Frankfurt. However, like all other international corporations, Chipotle strives to grow its business even further and extend global awareness of its brand. The next step in Chipotle’s global strategic plan would be to venture into new waters and enter Asia. Hence, Chipotle is now analyzing the decision of expanding operations into China.

Over the last decade, Chipotle is one of the fastest-growing restaurant chains. The company’s commitment to serve fresh food using only natural and organic ingredients, supports local family farms and sources sustainable ingredients from local growers. Chipotle competes against the big fast-food chains, such as McDonald’s and Denny’s. Chipotle found its “Enthusiast” customers by focusing on social media to tell its story. Today, it has over 1.7 million social media fans, yet spends next to nothing on traditional paid media. Because Chipotle is a fast food and less expensive, it also appeals to the “Savvy Shopper” who wants to enjoy fresh food at a bargain price.

Mission – By delivering uniquely flavored Mexican style food at budget prices, Taco Bell seeks to establish an international presence over the next 5 years. The current international fast food markets in Asia, South America, and Africa are dominated by American style fast food which leaves considerable opportunity for competing styles of cuisine, Taco Bell will use an aggressive marketing plan and develop a supply chain network that will enable rapid growth in overseas markets. Newly established restaurants will be able to supply local communities with quality meals at competitive prices while simultaneously creating value for shareholders.