Restaurant Industry:
Chipotle Mexican Grille, Inc.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chipotle Overview 3
Industry Overview 3
Key Macro External Forces 4
Five Competitive Forces 4
Major Factors Causing Fundamental Changes 4
External Analysis 4
Key (or Critical) Success Factors 4
APPENDIX – 1 4
APPENDIX – 2 4 External Factor Evaluation (EFE) Matrix 4
APPENDIX – 3 4 Competitive Profile Matrix (CPM) 4
APPENDIX – 4 4
APPENDIX – 5 4 Content Topics 4
Bibliography 18
Chipotle Overview
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. is a “fast-food service restaurant” under limited service category. It was formed in 1993 and went public in 2006. It has the largest market share in the Mexican-type food segment with a net income of more than
…show more content…
Brands, Inc. owns three of the world’s best known fast-food franchises, which are Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut. With a multi-branding strategy, a firm can combine its brands into the same location in order to increase sales and improve operating efficiency. In terms of industry profitability, it appears that profit margins have a tendency to fall. This is because competition is high and customers tend to buy low-priced high-value items. The average gross margin and net profit margin is 37.1% and 14.3%, respectively (MSN Money, 2010).
Key Macro External Forces
Socio-cultural Today’s society is becoming increasingly more health conscious. Consumers are aware of calories, obesity, sodium content and fatty food intake issues. Many restaurants have responded to the healthy eating trend by expanding the number of healthy food choices on their menus. A study found that American fast-food chains increased their healthy menu items by 65% during the second quarter of 2009 to the second quarter of 2010 (Midday, 2010). Another important social factor is the desire to be socially responsible. More restaurants are going green by choosing local ingredients, meats, and vegetables over those shipped from thousands of miles away. A study reports that around 80% of Americans consider themselves to be environmentally conscious. The same study found that over 60% of Americans prefer to eat at eco-friendly or green restaurants (Hubpages, 2010).
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.
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
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.
The actions taken by Chipotle after the E.coli outbreak can be seen as both exacerbating the problem and finding ways to resolve the problem. However, as the crisis began, leadership coming from CEO Steve Ells and Co-CEO Monty Moran painted a picture of denial. One of the first decisions made in reaction the crisis was to purchase full-paid advertisements. This marketing tactic was done to mask the severity of the e-coli outbreak, sooth investors, and retain loyal customers. In addition to television advertisements, Chipotle decided to advertise using direct mail (Wahba, 2016). This practice does not correlate with traditional chipotle advertising; their last paid advertisement was in 2012. Chipotle has always operated in a fashion that let
In the year of 2005, the total revenue of Chipotle was $627.7 Million dollars. "Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (CMG-$53.50 a share) was a January spin-off with an initial public offering price of $22 -- from McDonald's, the largest retailer of hamburger buns in the world. By year-end 2004, CMG had 387 locations, generated $470 million in revenues and earned 21 cents a share."(Berko) Last year, CMG had 485 locations that produced $627.70 million the growth revenue was at 33.40% in 2005. "pushing tacos, burritos, salads, plus huge helpings of tired rice and boring beans reporting net income of 78 cents a share. This year, CMG expects to earn 71 cents a share and, according to Prudential Securities, CMG will report $1 billion in 2007 revenues (that's a lot of beans) and post higher earnings of 98 cents a share." (Berko) Although Chipotle is at an all time high I believe that it may well be trading its shares at to high of a price. Mcdonalds the best and most efficiently run profitable fast food restaurant is trading their shares at 17 times earnings. Today Chipotle is trading at an outstanding $56.07 Per share. I don't believe Chipotle is worth anything over $30 a share. Although the price of chipotle stock is too high there should still be a hefty revenue at year end 2007. Predictions suggest 1 Billion dollars. For 2005
Consumers have become increasingly detached from their food as America’s food system grows larger and continues to ruin the environment. The main problem is that most consumers do not know how their consumption habits affect the ecosystem around them. Nor do they know about how their food was produced. Information about how and where the food is being produced and wasted is essential, so people can shop responsibly. Short of legislation, Americans make choices at the grocery store. It is essential for all Americans to cast in a vote with their dollars to change the way that food is produced in the United States resulting in more sustainable food being more accessible in the aisles of the grocery store for all Americans.
Chipotle is facing numerous challenges due to the fact that E. coli outbreak which requires the corporation from the key stakeholders to keep it under control and apply the new food safety protocols which can aid to bring the regular customers back. Although the main cause remains a mystery, Chipotle’s E. coli outbreak has been authoritatively declared officially over by the experts. However, since the poisoning outbreak, the impact of the reduced number of customers affects the profit which the company used to enjoy before such eventuality (Scholes 27).
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.
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).
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’s “Back to the Start” advertisement captures the sentiments of the audience by depicting Chipotle’s competitors’ practices as unethical. In both “Back to the Start” and the “Scarecrow” advertisements, Chipotle attempts to align itself with society’s growing belief that humane agriculture is better. Chipotle’s advertisements present their practices to be ethical, which sets its products apart from its competition. However, Chipotle’s message employs the same sentimental appeals and logical fallacies that are effective in their competitors’ advertisements.
“Reduce, reuse, and recycle” is a motto that pioneered environmental programs in schools, and public announcements. This motto also holds true in the food service industry. Following the trend to “go green” means implementing this motto into restaurant operations. This includes procedural changes that aim to reduce the amount of resources used, attempting to reuse resources, and recycling those that cannot be reused. Restaurants can move toward more sustainable food service through the utilization of
Chipotle was opened in 1993, and the idea was to show that food could be served fast but didn 't have to be a “fast-food” experience. Using high-quality raw ingredients, classic cooking techniques, and distinctive interior design, they brought features from the realm of fine dining to the world of quick-service restaurants (“Our Company,” n.d., para. 1).
People nowadays are getting into the “go green” lifestyle while others continue to live without thinking about the effects they have on the environment. Why do people go green? It can save you money, it is the right thing to do, it is healthier because there are less toxins and less illness, it is helping future generations, and it is a chance to connect with the local community and spread the word. To go along with this lifestyle and its benefits, catering companies are pushing to become more environmentally sustainable and have more local and organic food options.