Chipotle Mexican Grill Sondra Simpson Analysis

Sondra Simpson’s article “Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc.: Strategy with a Higher Mission or Farmed and Dangerous?” alludes to portraying a controversy involving the popular Mexican fast food chain Chipotle and the agricultural industry, but it reads more as a testament to the restaurant’s environmental and marketing achievements. The introductory paragraphs lead us right into a brief explanation of the issue at hand, as well as Chipotle’s intentions and opposition. Simpson hooks her readers with inciting blog titles illustrating the overall feelings of Chipotle’s offended adversaries, such as, “Boycott Chipotle: My Farm is Not Dangerous” and “Chipotle Unnecessarily Tears Down Agriculture to Build a Brand” (qtd by Simpson p 38). These blog posts describe the agricultural industry’s reaction to Chipotle’s latest attempt at spreading their corporate message through a series of webisodes titled “Farmed and Dangerous.” These webisodes were co-produced by Chipotle to demonstrate “the most negative aspects of industrial farming. . . . such as antibiotic overuse and fossil fuel dependence in food production” (38). Chipotle asserts their intentions were to get people thinking about

Elis’s idea behind Chipotle was to offer “fresh ingredients and great taste . . . prepared on site,” served as quickly as fast food (39). He coined the term “fast-casual.” The first restaurants opened in 1993 and offered lunch and dinner. One difference Simpson points out is that unlike many fast food chains, Chipotle did not franchise and used its own distribution centers to maintain quality, which was extremely important to the company’s values. Chipotle kept their menu simple, but still managed to provide over 65,000 customization options, and customer’s can choose to order online or through a mobile app. The company was incredible successful with recognitions from Wall Street Journal and Fast Company