DENVER Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. said Tuesday it would enter the European market next April with the opening of a store on Charing Cross Road in London and is "actively looking" for other sites in the city.
While the Denver-based operator of more than 900 fast-casual restaurants said it is also scouting for locations in Paris and Munich, it did not detail a timeline for European expansion, and noted that most of the 120 to 130 new restaurants targeted for development in 2010 would open in the United States.
Regardless of the opening schedule for overseas branches, the European market seems like a good fit for Chipotle, said founder and chief executive Steve Ells, an advocate of "food with integrity." As engineered by Ells, Chipotle strives to use ingredients from sustainable sources, including meat from animals that are humanely raised, never given antibiotics or added hormones, and fed a pure vegetarian diet, local and organic produce, and milk from cows that are not treated with synthetic hormones.
"In many ways, the food culture in Europe matches our priorities much more closely than in the U.S.," Ells said. "I think we'll be able to source beautiful ingredients from local and sustainable sources from the time we open in the U.K., and establish sustainable supply chains elsewhere as we look at other European markets."
And London, where burritos and tacos are primarily sold by independent restaurants, is a good jumping off place for expansion abroad, Ells added.
"London has become an important food city over the years, especially because of the awareness of and desire for things like locally sourced, seasonal, and artisanal ingredients," he said.
But that's not to say Chipotle will totally escape homegrown chain competition in the city, as London-based Chiquito operates 10 restaurants and Wahaca, at least three, among other multi-unit burrito purveyors.
Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold said there is nothing inherent in the plan to open in London that should push the development price of a restaurant there significantly higher or lower than the opening costs in the U.S., where the average unit price tag is about $900,000, but varies greatly by market. Chipotle restaurants typically seat about 70 people and none incorporates a drive-thru, as the concept features foods assembled to order from enough different ingredients to make possible more than 60,000 combinations, chain officials like to brag.
"We are working with a local [London] architect, in tandem with our folks here, but the restaurant will look and feel like a Chipotle, where the design of the restaurant says something about the food we serve," Arnold explained. "Our food is made with simple ingredients used in unconventional ways to elevate it into something extraordinary; [the] same thing is true [in] the way we design and build restaurant: simple materials [are] used in uncommon ways to elevate them into something much more unique and special."
Chipotle, for the nine months ended Sept. 30, reported a 14.6-percent increase in revenue to $1.13 billion, compared with the same 2008 period, on the strength of additional restaurants and a 2.2-percent increase in same-store sales.
Contact Alan J. Liddle at [email protected].
