Chipotle

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A Fast Casual Restaurant is a style of restaurant, most popular within the United States, which does not offer full table service, but endeavours to provide a higher quality of food with fewer processed ingredients then the fast food industry. The fast-casual category originated in the early 1990's when food chains such as Fuddruckers and Au Bon Pain introduced newer, more upscale versions of their competitors like Mcdonald's and Subway. The concept of the fast casual restaurant did not become popular in the US until the early 1990's, but was still not mainstream till the late 2000's and early 2010's. The increase in popularity can be accredited to the 18-34 demographic, who during the economic downturn had limited discrepancy on spending money…show more content…
The most well-known purveyor of this category being Chipotle has seen its sales quadruple over the period, alongside Panera which tripled and Shake Shack, which has recently gone public despite only operating 36 outlets, just proving the success of the fast-casual…show more content…
Chipotle has been able to successfully satisfy all the characteristics of the market, from the freshness of their food and quality, their time efficiency, and pricing. However, it has also created a new standard for the future of the market, its sustainability, and other fast casual dining enterprises are only following in these footsteps. For example, Panera has taken steps to be more environmentally friendly, this is seen through the recent redesign of their packaging, which promotes recycling. The trend in fast-casual dining is only expected to increase as millennial's are the biggest fans of this market, and they will continue to find themselves strapped for time and less willing to eat take out and fast food, due to its unhealthy nature. It is estimated that fast-casual will grow into the double digits through 2022, as the rest of the restaurant industry will decline at a rate of around half a percent. The trend in this market is evident from statistics that show the category controls 5% of all restaurant movement, up from a low 1% in

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