Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. is giving customers another opportunity to win free food with the launch of a new digital game called “Guac Hunter.”
Offered in partnership with supplier Avocados from Mexico, the game, which can be played at www.chipotle.com/guachunter or on a smartphone at chip.tl/guac, is a digital photo hunt where players see two seemingly identical images and have a certain amount of time to spot the differences.
Those that beat the clock three times can win a mobile offer for a free order of chips and guacamole at any Chipotle restaurant in the U.S. or Canada.
Available through March 31, with offers expiring April 10, the game is harder than it looks. Fortunately, three mobile attempts gets players a free coupon, even if they don’t win.
“For many of our customers, guacamole is one of their favorite menu items, and a meal at Chipotle isn’t complete without it,” said Mark Crumpacker, chief creative and development officer at the Denver-based chain. “Great guacamole begins with great avocados, and we source the best ingredients to ensure every serving of guacamole is as good as it can be. This game allows our customers to enjoy some chips and guac on us, and perhaps encourage others to give our guac a try and see what they’ve been missing.”
Chipotle’s guacamole is made in house and seasoned with diced red onions, jalapenos, cilantro, citrus juice and salt. As a result of new food-safety protocols put in place after a series of foodborne illness outbreaks last year, avocados are blanched with the skin on before cutting to kill any potential pathogens.
The 2,000-unit chain uses about 44,000 pounds of avocados in each restaurant annually, and last year about 43 million pounds of those avocados came from Mexico, though the chain also sources from California, Chile and Peru during peak growing seasons, Chipotle said.
“Guac Hunter” is the latest in a series of free or discounted offers expected from Chipotle, which is struggling to bring customers back after its foodborne illness crisis.
Last week, the company said same-store sales fell 26.1 percent in February, in part because of free food offers that began early in the month. The decline in February as a vast improvement over the 36.4-percent slide in January, and company officials expect upward trends to continue.
Contact Lisa Jennings at [email protected]
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