Chipotle will add smoked brisket to its menu for a limited time
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Smoked brisket joins Chipotle Mexican Grill’s menu
Source: Chipotle Mexican Grill
Chipotle Mexican Grill on Tuesday announced the third new menu item for this year: smoked brisket.
Only a few days will the new option be on offer. The smoked brisket will only be available to those who signed up for Chipotle loyalty program which has now 24 million members. It will become available at Chipotle restaurants in the U.S., Canada and all users of Chipotle’s website and app by Thursday. Third-party delivery apps like DoorDash won’t offer brisket as an option until Monday.
Chipotle has been creating smoked Brisket for two years. The company tested the limited-time option in Cincinnati and Sacramento nearly a year ago before deciding to launch it nationwide. Brisket is prepared by slow smoking the beef, then grilling and seasoning with Mexican spices. Then, it’s topped with a sauce with spicy chili peppers.
Earlier this year, Chipotle released cauliflower rice as a limited-time option and quesadillas as a digital-only entree. Under CEO Brian Niccol, who previously led Yum Brands’ Taco Bell, the company has accelerated adding new menu items through a process it calls stage-gate testing. Chipotle has taken a strategic approach to new products, offering them as limited-time choices to increase customer traffic and keep its menu from getting too bloated.
Last month, Chipotle said it was testing meatless chorizo in several markets.
“We have a lot of ideas, that’s one of the great things about Chipotle, and sorting through those ideas and figuring out which ones are the best is one of the biggest challenges. “The stage-gate process definitely helps us achieve that,” Chipotle’s chief marketing officer Chris Brandt stated in an interview. The company is getting feedback from consumers all the way. But we also get feedback on finance, operations, and marketing. Because a fantastic consumer idea can’t be implemented well at the restaurant, it’s a bad idea.
Brandt stated that the new item did “extraordinarily well in test markets.”
The menu can be re-stocked with limited-time items. It happened to carne asada. It began in a limited run and was added back onto the menu again for a limited time in 2019 and 2020 as the company secured additional supply.
Restaurants around the world have faced supply chain issues due to the effects of the pandemic. Chipotle boasts that it adheres to strict supply chain guidelines, such as offering ethically raised beef without antibiotics and added hormones.
“It’s really difficult to find good quality, responsible raised beef in the large quantities we need. The good news? We’ve succeeded. It’s been a great success. Brandt stated that it should be somewhere between November and December depending on the outcome of events.
Chipotle’s shares rose 35% to $52.9B this year.
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