Steve Ells, Founder, Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer, started Chipotle
with the idea that food served fast did not have to be a typical fast food experience.
Today, Chipotle continues to offer a focused menu of burritos, tacos, burrito
bowls (a burrito without the tortilla) and salads made from fresh, high-quality
raw ingredients, prepared using classic cooking methods and served in a distinctive
atmosphere. Through our vision of Food With Integrity, Chipotle is seeking better
food from using ingredients that are not only fresh, but that where possible
are sustainably grown and naturally raised with respect for the animals, the
land, and the farmers who produce the food.
Food Served Fast … So That Customers Can Enjoy It Slowly. Our employees
spend hours preparing our food on-site, but each customer order can be ready
in seconds. Customers select exactly what they want and how they want it by
speaking directly to the employees that prepared the food and are assembling
the order. While we think that our customers return because of the great-tasting
food, we also think that they like getting food served fast without having a
“fast-food” experience, even when they’re not in a hurry.
And while our restaurants often have lines, we try to serve customers as quickly
as possible. We’ve even been able to serve more than 300 customers an
hour at some locations. The natural flow of our restaurant layout, including
the floor plan and the design of our serving line, are designed to make the
food ordering process intuitive and, we believe, more efficient. And we’re
focused on further improving the speed of service in all of our restaurants,
so that we can accommodate more customers and larger orders without disrupting
restaurant traffic. For instance, our restaurants accept orders by fax, online
or through an iPhone ordering application in order to provide a more convenient
experience by allowing customers to avoid standing in line. By emphasizing speed
of service without compromising the genuine interactions between our customers
and our crews, and by continually making improvements to our restaurants, we
believe that we can provide a high quality experience to more and more customers.
Competition
We compete with national and regional fast-casual, quick-service and casual
dining restaurants. Our competition also includes a variety of locally owned
restaurants and the deli sections and in-store cafés of several major
grocery store chains. The number, size and strength of competitors vary by region,
market and even restaurant. Competitors to our restaurants compete based on
a number of factors, including taste, quality, speed of service, price and value,
name recognition, location, customer service and the ambience and condition
of the competitor. Unlike us, a number of our competitors grow through franchising.
