International Strategy Of Chipotle

As demonstrated in Exhibit 1 on page 143, the company’s total revenue increased from $1.085.782 million dollars to $3.214.591 million dollars in less than seven years. Beginning at the end of 2007 through the end of 2013, Chipotle’s Mexican Grill total revenues increased at a CAGR of 19.83%. The new provided catering program, the six elements of their strategy adapted to other cuisines (ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen) and the growing number of new restaurants are decisive aspects in increasing revenue yearly.

The age old debate: is Chipotle or Qdoba the better fast food Mexican restaurant? Of course, one could choose from many pros and cons for either side, but my goal was to dig down into the debate. Which restaurant has a better atmosphere? Which one has better ingredients? Are there more options at one than another? Which restaurant gives it’s customer more bang for their buck? Although I may be biased because I work at Qdoba, I’ve thoroughly researched each restaurant and come to a conclusion. Each restaurant brings many different options to the table, but in the end Qdoba is far superior to Chipotle in many ways.

A wide variety of food and a part of the community versus which is healthier which are things that need to be considered when choosing what to eat. Chick-fil-a is a unique restaurant because chicken is the only meat on a meat-based menu. Chipotle, while not unique, is very good for the few items they make. Both restaurants are so good it is hard to choose which to go

Chipotle’s organizational structure is centered on the functional structure. The top levels of management include the co-CEOs, CFO, Head-Media Relations, and Chief Creative and Development Officer CCDO (Chipotle). Chipotle is a smaller corporation relative to its competitors, which allows it to focus on a vertical hierarchy based on functions. The fact that there are few departments demonstrates that Chipotle is still a growing corporation. Chipotle is a highly centralized corporation as all of its stores are corporate owned and they must follow the rules set by the corporate headquarters this involves the same menu throughout the country and the same prices. The restaurant business follows high levels of formalization a set of guidelines must be followed in order to comply with food and health regulations. There is low division of labor at the restaurant level as those cooking can shift to serving and cleaning when needed, allowing the allocation of labor to match whatever is needed in the situation. A unique aspect of Chipotle’s upper management is the fact that there are two CEOs (Feloni). The two CEO help ease job functions and enables them to be more accessible. Another managerial aspect of Chipotle is the through the position of restaurateur. There are 183 of these positions and they work to manage several Chipotles, bringing management close to each store (Investor’s Business Daily). From their organizational structure we can see they place high importance on

The company had run a national TV commercial which named “Back to the Start” during the Grammy Awards. Chipotle also had published their food, restaurant concept and business through favorable articles and television programs. Moreover, Chipotle used video and music programs as well as event strategy to attract the consumers’ attention to their restaurants. The company also initiated promotional activities via newly opened restaurants to attract more consumers. Chipotle introduced a reward program, the “Farm Team” to encourage more customers to join a program that educated them something related to Chipotle Mexican Grill business concept. In addition, the word-of-mouth publicity from customers enable Chipotle to reduce the cost of advertising but at the same time increasing the brand reputation of the restaurants in the

Chipotle Mexican Grill is a fast casual Mexican Restaurant that operates from the United States. Although the restaurant is specifically segmented to the fast casual Mexican restaurant market, it does not simply operate in this realm. Chipotle is also successful operating in the restaurant market as well. According to the Trefis Team (2014) Chipotle Mexican Grill has managed to take market share from restaurants in the fast food industry.

In order to distinguish itself from competitors, especially Qdoba doesn’t want to be “me-too Chipotle”, Qdoba redesigned everything includes in-store layout, new branding, and personalized service. For example, Qdoba has colorful and artistic design on the wall, seating and washroom, which creates strong visual effect of Mexican culture and makes customer feel casual and happy. As we know, Chipotle is the King of burrito, however Qdoba choose to promote variety tacos to develop it’s competitive advantage. Qdoba launched a set of six Knockout tacos on October 27th, 2015, which enriched Qdoba’s menu items and provided more options for customers. Also, Qdoba’s employees with new designed uniforms are encouraged to speak their recommendations and provide more human touch services not machine-like assembly line. “The worst thing you could hear is as server who says everything’s good.” said John Cooke, VP, menu strategy and innovation at Qdoba. Furthermore, Qdoba introduced a kid’s menu and has 24 open hours for some locations to satisfy more customer needs.

The Fast food industry is extremely competitive. Although Chipotle is a step up from most fast food restaurants, it still must

The amazing service that chipotle has is great. The line in Chipotle can be a mile long and it will only take ten minutes to go through the line. Also you can phone in your order it is ready for pickup once you arrive and you avoid the line. The workers are very polite the will most likely clear your table even though you are supposed to do it.

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.

Chipotle plans to keep its menu simple, but the combinations of fresh ingredients create countless meal varieties for customers. The majority of the food products are fresh and prepared from scratch using kitchen stoves, grills, pots, pans, knives, and other utensils.

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.

re strong competitors and Yum! Foods leads the industry it is my recommendation that any investments be made in Chipotle.

Changes in customer preferences, general economic conditions, discretionary spending priorities, demographic trends, traffic patterns and the type, number and location of competing restaurants have a moderate effect on the restaurant industry (Chipotle, 2010). One example of customer preferences being a driver in the industry is the “Whole Food-ism Movement” which has put a large focus on organic, antibiotic-free, and non-processed foods (Mansolillo, 2007). Consumers now look for healthier options when eating and an overall healthier lifestyle. Chipotle has been able to benefit from this movement by carrying on their “Food with Integrity” mission (Chipotle, 2010).

Chipotle is the leader in the fast casual market, with over 1,900 locations, $3.21 billion in annual revenue, and the ability to serve up to 300 customers an hour. It has innovated the restaurant market by providing reasonably priced scratch-made meals, containing local ingredients, all within the confines of a pleasing aesthetic environment (Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., 2014; Kaplan, 2011). To reach its success, the firm utilized architectural innovation by stealing components of various types of restaurants already in existence. The company appropriated its rapid meal preparation methods from fast food chains such Subway and Quiznos, adopted its provision of quality food from more upscale casual Mexican restaurants, and implemented a locally based supply chain similar to that seen at many local farm-to-table establishments. This convergence of different properties came together right as the millennial generation was coming of age and demand higher quality, natural, and locally sourced ingredients in meals that could receive quickly. The company has also attempted to utilize an incremental innovation approach by removing all CMO ingredients and testing new foods such as breakfast items, soup, and chorizo sausage (The Associated Press, 2015; Peterson,