Chipotle Mexican Grill

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.
Type	Public (NYSE: CMG)
Founded	Denver (1993)
Headquarters	1543 Wazee Street, Suite 200 Denver, Colorado, 80202
Key people	Steve Ells, Founder, CEO and Chairman
Area served	21 States and the District of Columbia
Industry	Restaurants
Revenue	$627.70M USD (2005)
Operating income	$30.99M USD (2005)
Net income	$37.70M USD (2005)
Employees	13,000 (2005)
Website	www.chipotle.com

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) is a Denver, Colorado-based chain of restaurants specializing in San Francisco burritos and tacos. Founded by Steve Ells in 1993, the restaurant is known for its chunky guacamole and large burritos. Chipotle is one of the first successful chains in the newer category of fast-casual dining establishment. McDonald's Corporation used to own a majority interest in Chipotle. Full divestment was completed in October of 2006.

Contents 1 History 2 Steve Ells 3 Menu 4 Free Burrito Days 5 Music 6 Designing for environmental responsibility 7 References 8 External links

[edit] History

The first Chipotle restaurant started in Denver, Colorado. Over 500 restaurants have since opened throughout the U.S. Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurants are company-owned, rather than franchised. In 1997, McDonald's made an initial minority investment in Chipotle Mexican Grill. By 1999, it had grown to a controlling interest, and, by 2005, it was 92%. The McDonald's connection allowed the firm to quickly expand, from 14 restaurants in 1998 to 480 at the end of 2005.

On October 25, 2005, Chipotle initially filed for its IPO. On December 23, 2005 in an updated filing, Chipotle indicated the size of the offering would be approximately 6.3 million shares with a price of $15.50 to $17.50 per share. The price range was increased to $18.00 to $20.00 per share on January 23, 2006, an indication that the demand for the offering was strong. Morgan Stanley and SG Cowen led the offering. The public offering priced on January 25, 2006, at a price of $22 per share. The offering raised approximately $133M in primary capital to fund new store growth. McDonald's sold $66M, including the 15% greenshoe, which was exercised in full. On its first day as a public company, Chipotle stock rose exactly 100%, closing at $44.00 per share. On September 8, 2006 McDonald's Corp. announced it had started an offer for its shareholders to exchange McDonald's stock for shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill. The exchange will allow McDonald's shareholders to acquire Chipotle shares at a 10 percent discount. The offer is capped at a level of 0.9157 Chipotle shares for each McDonald's share exchanged owned by McDonalds Corporation.

[edit] Steve Ells

Steve Ells is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Chipolte Mexican Grill. He got started in the Mexican food industry after getting a job as a line cook at a restaurant called Stars in San Francisco. He attended the Culinary Institute of America [1] and graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder (ArtHist'88).

[edit] Menu

Chipotle's menu consists of five types of items:

• Burrito (filled with rice and either black beans or pinto beans)
• Fajita burrito (a burrito with onions and green peppers sauteed in soy oil instead of beans)
• "Burrito Bol" (burrito ingredients in a paper bowl, without any tortilla; suggested for people following low-carbohydrate diets)
• Hard or soft tacos (no rice or beans unless asked for)
• Salad (served with a container of chipotle-honey vinaigrette)

The above items come filled with one of the following items:

• Chicken thighs marinated in a spicy chipotle pepper adobo and grilled
• Carnitas naturally raised (shredded pork) seasoned with thyme, bay leaves, juniper berries, and cracked pepper; seared and then braised; no spice
• Barbacoa (shredded beef) seared and then braised in chipotle pepper adobo with cumin, garlic, and other spices; mildly spicy
• Steak marinated in a spicy chipotle pepper adobo and then grilled; lean, medium-rare, and somewhat spicy
• Vegetarian (guacamole), guacamole is also available as an extra cost option with one of the other four fillings

Also any of the following can be added:

• Cilantro-Lime Rice
• Black Beans
• Pinto Beans
• Fresh Tomato Salsa (mild)
• Tomatillo Red-Chili Salsa (hot)
• Tomatillo Green-Chili Salsa (medium hot)
• Roasted Chili-Corn Salsa (medium)
• Sour Cream
• Cheese
• Guacamole
• Romaine Lettuce

Side items include:

• Lime Salted chips

The price depends only on the meat ordered. Additionally, there are several so-called "secret items" not listed on the regular overhead menu but rather on the children's menu, such as quesadillas, rice & beans bowl, or individual tacos.

Chipotle is also noted for its ability to handle fax orders, making it popular among office workers picking up lunch. In late 2005 Chipotle added the ability to order online using the moniker "DSL" or "Don't Stand in Line". As with faxed-in orders, those who have placed their orders online may skip to the front of the line to pay for their already-prepared food, as long as they have called to confirm their order previous to pick up, and allow 10 to 15 minutes to be prepared.

Latching on to popular health concerns, and keeping in line with their "Food With Integrity" mission statement, Chipotle uses several natural ingredients. To date, Chipotle has all natural chicken, in some markets, raised without antibiotics on a vegetable diet, naturally raised pork and beef. Chipotle advertises its support of family farms, such as Niman Ranch (a California "natural" meat producer that contracts with farms in the Midwest to raise pork and other livestock). Chipotle also has vegetarian and vegan offerings. Other than the meats, pinto beans (with bacon), cheese, sour cream and honey vinaigrette for salads, everything else on the menu is vegan. The cheese is processed with vegetable-based rennet, rather than the more commonly used animal-based version, in order to be suitable for vegetarians. Additionally the sour cream comes from cows that are not treated with rBGH.

[edit] Free Burrito Days

Chipotle has run several "free burrito" promotions:

• Tax Day April 15. A mock tax form BurritoEZ was handed out at Chipotle restaurants. Customers who brought in the completed form on April 15th received a free burrito. Not every location participated in this promotion in 2006.
• Halloween October 31. Come dressed as a burrito. A typical response to this requirement is to dress up in aluminum foil, creating the appearance of a burrito still in the wrapper. Starting in 2006, Boo-rrito Fest has been discontinued in many regions, due to abuse by customers.^{[citation needed]}
• February 29. Occurrs only on leap years. Buy a burrito on this day, and at the bottom of your receipt was a certificate for a free burrito.
• Valentine's Day February 13, 14. Customers are invited to purchase gift cards for Valentine's Day and then bring the receipt to Chipotle on February 13 or 14 to receive a free burrito. This offer was provided as a flash movie in 2006 [2] while the 2007 invitation is a more simple email [3].

[edit] Music

All music played at Chipotle establishments is sent to the store from upper offices of Chipotle. This music can be found and sampled under the "Feel" section of their website. Also, they use Public Radio MusicSource, allowing anyone to purchase any music they list in their effort to support Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service.

[edit] Designing for environmental responsibility

Chipotle's architectural design team incorporates the principles of sustainable architecture in all future projects and included many of those elements in existing Chipotles. These include, according to Chipotle communications firm KNS Promotions Inc. in Maryland:

• Recycled content in the galvanized steel and stainless steel prevalent in Chipotle restaurant interiors is 60% to 90% and drywall is 100%. The tables are stainless steel topped and supported by common steel plumbing pipes that are threaded into standard brackets that attach to the floor.

• Low VOC (volatile organic compounds) primers, paints and caulking are used in all Chipotles. A waterborne clear lacquer has been substituted for our typical spar urethane for all interior woodwork

• Construction waste management (CWM) has been employed at two Chipotles construction sites to study how to address demolition, reclamation and diversion opportunities at new Chipotle sites. More Chipotle sites will be part of a baseline study for new construction to create standard CWM protocols. CWM diverts construction and demolition waste from landfill disposal by renovating or restoring existing architectural features, such as a tile or terrazzo floor, and recycling or donating fixtures and construction materials in good condition to organizations such as Habitat for Humanity. Demolition costs are increased since more time is needed to remove fixtures and materials in tact, but much is off set by lower landfill fees. Overall, waste, building construction and demolition contribute between 25% to 30% of all landfill mass.

• In-store glass, plastic and cardboard recycling has been tested in about 25 Chipotles thus far and will be expanded to 100 by the end of the year. The customer glass and plastic recycling apparatus has gone through a few design permutations to ease customer recycling. Once a satisfactory design is found, it will roll out to all the stores. The same issues apply to the kitchen staff recycling cardboard boxes from vendors.

• Retro plate floor finishing was adopted in 2005 to polish and permanently seal and strengthen new and renovated Chipotle concrete floors. Previously the finish was a stained concrete; yet, to improve its green quotient, Chipotle landed upon retro plate finishing. No solvents or volatile organic compounds are used. Rather, the process is odorless and nonflammable and uses a formulation of water and naturally occurring materials.

• Tankless water heaters are in all Chipotle where allowed. The system provides hot water on demand and eliminates the need for traditional water tank heaters. They save space and energy and exceed the IECC 2000 efficiency requirements. Some local codes do not allow this technology since it is new to the US and in some cases it cannot be used in special conditions at the site, i.e. a high rise building.^{[citation needed]}

• Low-E (low-emissivity) insulated glass keeps the heat outside in the summer and inside during the winter, thus decreasing the air-conditioning and heating requirements.

• Time clock/photocell controls regulate lighting levels throughout the day, taking ambient light into consideration. In addition, motion sensors in the restrooms and walk-in cooler further improve lighting efficiencies. This lighting package can exceed code by 30 percent.

• Energy efficient fluorescent lighting is used in the kitchens, compact fluorescent lighting on patios and in restrooms and long-life incandescent bulbs in the dining room and on the serving line.

• Factory programmed thermostat settings regulate heating and air conditioning levels as per a set temperature scale versus the preference of a particular manager.

• Water efficiencies were incorporated with high efficient sprayers at the four-compartment sinks, made standard for all new stores as of April 2006, and waterless urinals and hands free faucets in the restrooms are being tested. One waterless urinal is in use in Loveland, Colo. Chipotle. The Boulder store at 29th and Arapahoe also has a waterless urinal[4].

• High efficiency heating and air conditioning roof-top units are in all Chipotles. In addition, Chipotle has installed efficient grill hoods with improved hood/make up air to reduce exhaust. The initial costs are offset by energy efficiencies.^{[citation needed]}

During 2002, Chipotle built its first restaurant in Austin, Texas that was certified "green" by the city of Austin with a three-star rating. Two years later, Chipotle built a second restaurant that was given a four-star rating. The four-star designation was given to a Chipotle constructed within a vacant historic building. Chipotle is the only restaurant to which Austin has given a four-star green rating, thus far.

The impetus to build green was to reflect CEO Steve Ells' philosophy for their food.

In 2001, Ells made a commitment to move the restaurant chain toward using responsibly and sustainably farmed ingredients to fill their burritos and tacos, according to statements released by the company.[5]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Chipotle Mexican Grill website
• Interview with CEO Steve Ells
• "Chipotle Fan" unofficial fan site - Chipotle Nutrition Calculator
• "Burritoman" fan blog
• Chipotle Reviews and News from Burrito Blog
• Photos of Chipotle In Colorado Springs
• "Chipotle Lovers" unofficial fan site, complete with nutritional data
• Chipotle vs. Qdoba: An amusing article that pits Chipotle burritos against Qdoba burritos, item by item
• Photos of stores - including the original chipotle - on an unfficial Chipotle fan site