Noodles And Company Problem Analysis

Chipotle ventured into a new territory when it was created, as it had an innovative vision for fast-casual restaurants. By using fresh and quality ingredients, Chipotle raised the bar in their segment. The service line where customers could see their order being prepared enhanced the experience of Chipotle. Consumers who were used to eating at fast-casual restaurants where the food was frozen and made out of sight were able to savor the uniqueness of Chipotle. These differences helped Chipotle become successful. However, as competitors copy the traits that make Chipotle unique, Chipotle must adapt and overcome in order to remain a profitable company.

A key aspect of Panera Bread’s business that protects the company from direct competition in the fast food industry is their product niche, artisan fast food. Fast food chains are often criticized for offering unhealthy foods. But, Panera Bread focuses on a higher nutritional value in their products. Dine in restaurants are very susceptible to drops in consumer spending, so Panera Bread’s

The company is geographically located in most major united states locations. It employs a hierarchal organizational design. One of the contributing factors to its success is the company’s success in providing a dining experience for its customers that excel in choices, price, customer service, and serving size. The company is known world-wide for its delicious cheesecakes with the key factor being the variety.

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 company is geographically located in most major united states locations. It employs a hierarchal organizational design. One of the contributing factors to its success is the company’s success in providing a dining experience for its customers that excel in choices, price, customer service, and serving size. The company is known world-wide for its delicious cheesecakes with the key factor being the variety.

For me and for many other loyal consumers, there are no other snack food products in the market that compare. While I opt for deals and store brands for most products, I can never replace Frito-Lay brands. Takis were very popular when they first came to the United States market and Frito-Lay successfully positioned itself in that market segment with Dorito Dinamitas. They offer many premium brands as well as low-priced brands. Cracker Jacks were repositioned to be aimed at value shoppers (Strom, 2012). Their contests succeed in making consumers feel that they have a voice in their brand and in turn will become more loyal. Their continued licensing agreements with other firms will help to make a name for themselves across many other markets. The Doritos Locos Tacos have been very successful for their Dorito brand. Brands protect from competition and as this paper has shown, Frito-Lay has been very successful in their branding

Two Mexican restaurants; Chipotle and Qudoba. People say both taste great but many people choose one versus the other. Working at Chipotle, I get a lot of pros and cons about Qudoba and Chipotle. Some people don’t like that our guacamole isn’t free. People always say “why don’t you be like Qudoba and have your guacamole free?” and I always tell them “our guacamole is organic, handmade. I would know because I make the guacamole.” Chipotle is a better place to eat because our food is handmade and organic. Our vision statement is “to change the way people think about fast food and to create an environment empowered by top performers who achieve high standards” (Moran)

The fast food industry in the US is witnessing the increasingly fierce competition among Chipotle, Chick-fil-A, McDonald’s, Jimmy’s egg and KFC. In addition, consumers increasingly favored foods clean and healthy. Foreseeing this need, numerous popular fast food restaurants sprung up promptly. The first Chipotle restaurant is opened in 1993 by Steve Ells in Colorado. On the contrary, McDonald’s is founded by McDonald’s family with a long history as well as one of the oldest brand in America. My paper will explain the similarities and differences in their three characteristics between Chipotle and McDonald’s, both of them are large enterprises in the fast food industry which have large market shares. Then, I also give opinions to differentiate

Nevertheless, the majority of customers are very satisfied with the amount of serving along with the quality of their meal as well as the price paid. The strategy of being a low priced high value added has seen problems due to lack of customers which is affecting the bottom line drastically. This inevitable circumstance has put a hold on operations and started an investigation upon various neighboring competitors and their own strategies.

operates 25 years’ history. Compared to Chuck E Cheese, Inc. and California Pizza Kitchen, Inc.,

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,

One can only assume that Chipotle uses concentration strategies for their corporate level strategies, because they only concentrate on the restaurant industry. Market penetration and market development is their main focus, as they are attracting new customers as they increase brand awareness through their business strategies and their “Food With Integrity” campaign, Farmed and Dangerous live action story-telling comedy series, and Cultivate Foundation, which is a non-profit organization supporting sustainable agriculture, family farming and food education, and they are expanding into new markets with international expansion, so Chipotle can continue “to change the way people think about and eat fast food” (Chipotle, 2015). Chipotle also, uses ‘product development’, but not as aggressively as market penetration. The most recent product development is a meat alternative made from tofu, called “Sofritas”. Chipotle is highly invested in Pizzeria Locale, suggesting the possibility of horizontal integration in the near future, and is using an adjacent strategy with its sister restaurant ShopHouse Southeast Asian

It is also more widely spread geographically. Subway also offers the “choose your own” style of service, but it does not serve organic foods ("Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. SWOT Analysis."). Hot Head Burrito is another Mexican style restaurant that would be considered a competitor. These restaurants offer cheaper menu prices, lower-carb options and “diet menus” ("Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. SWOT Analysis."). While Chipotle offers none of these things, they have quite a large target market and have grown tremendously just in the last five years ("Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. SWOT Analysis.").

Honolulu Advertiser (2002) states that Jason Higa is the Chief Executive Officer of FCH Enterprises Incorporated, the parent company of Zippy’s Restaurants (para. 15). According to the website (FCH Enterprises, n.d.), other brands under FCH Enterprises include Napoleon’s Bakery, Food Solutions International, A Catered Experience, and Pomaikai Ballrooms (para. 4). Paul Yokota is the president of FCH Enterprises (Gelber, 2015, para. 1). Each Zippy’s Restaurant has its own store manager and assistant