Chipotle Mexican Grill Executive Summary

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (CMG), a fast casual Mexican restaurant operates its 1,316 restaurants within four countries; Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and the greatest majority within the U.S. Founded by Steven Ells in 1993, CMG performed quite receiving investment support from McDonald’s Corporation, which assisted with growth funding. Although it is a competitor within the restaurant industry, McDonald’s Corporation noticed the potential of the chain and did not view it as a direct competitor based on its food menu. The added support worked and in 2006, the firm’s value reached $1.5 billion behind its mission statement “Food with Integrity” sustainability program (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson, 2015). CMG faced other competitors such
On the contrary, its competitors are fast-casual food restaurants that are believed to provide lower quality foods at cheaper prices. A strong supply chain market helped the firm develop relationships with local farmers and suppliers to acquire fresh ingredients as just-in-time (JIT) inventory, which eliminates bulk purchases and excess on-hands inventory. These business ventures allowed the firm to reduce its marketing spend by an average of $7 million between 2009 and 2011. The belief that the most recognized brands are not built through marketing, but how consumers experience the brand (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson,
as a Mexican restaurant of choice. Early success allowed the firm to grow in locations and popularity. The firm’s fresh ingredients and traditional Mexican dishes made it difficult to replicate, but Taco Bell Cantina Bell succeeded. Cantina Bell provided similar quality food selections at a cheaper rate than CMG, and was preferred by 75 percent of the consumer base that visited both locations. Cantina Bell’s strategy to target the young adult male population helped propel the firm over CMG. Jeff Einhorn predicted this shift as CMG stock fell by more than 4 percent. Was this a lucky guess or just great hunch? It depends on who is asked and what people believe. Either way, Chipotle still suffered a financial