Chipotle is testing chipotle honey chicken as latest menu innovationChipotle is testing chipotle honey chicken as latest menu innovation

Joanna Fantozzi

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. is testing its latest menu innovation, chipotle honey chicken, at 80 locations in Sacramento, Calif., and Nashville, Tenn.

The Newport Beach, Calif.-based chain’s new limited-time protein is marinated with smoked adobo peppers, seasoned with Mexican spices, and finished with honey—creating a spicy-sweet chicken that is being added to Chipotle’s growing list of available proteins.

Chipotle said that before rolling out chipotle honey chicken to test markets, the company performed consumer taste tests, and the product received the highest reaction remarks from consumers out of any chicken product Chipotle has ever tested.

"Consumers have clearly shown their enthusiasm for sweet heat flavor combinations," Chris Brandt, Chipotle’s chief brand officer, said in a statement. "We have had tremendous success with 'swicy' innovations and believe chipotle honey chicken will capture fans with a whole new level of excitement."

The new “swicy” flavor is part of a sustaining menu trend across the fast-casual and quick-service categories. This spring, Starbucks had announced a new lineup of “swicy” LTO beverages that added a proprietary chili powder mix to a trio of Lemonade Refreshers. But Starbucks and Chipotle aren’t the only ones: the sweet and spicy trend has been kicking around foodservice and retail for months, with the rise in popularity of hot honey pepperoni pizzas, sweet chili-flavored Takis, and chili pepper maple syrups.

Related:Breaking down Starbucks’ hire of Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol

Chipotle’s chipotle honey chicken is the third premium poultry item that the chain has introduced over the past two years, following the rollout of pollo asado in March 2022 and chicken al pastor in March 2023. According to Chipotle, chicken is the brand’s most popular protein – so much so that al pastor was first introduced as an LTO but was brought back earlier this year due to popular demand

As Chipotle keeps introducing new menu items, the brand is reaping the benefits of success: last quarter, Chipotle’s revenue grew 18.2% year-over-year, while same-store sales increased by 11.1%, driven mainly by transactional growth.

As of June 30, Chipotle had more than 3,500 restaurants worldwide.

Contact Joanna at [email protected]