Chipotle Says It Will Completely Replace Fast Food Chains

[thelakelander]

Ronald, the ball is in your court...

A Chipotle executive blasted "traditional" fast food chains, such as McDonald's and Burger King, as "irrelevant" and said his company will eventually replace them.

"The predominant goal [for traditional fast food chains] is the cheapening of the raw ingredients, the automation of the work such that anyone could do it... so that they turn over their employees without any care for them, where it's a game of value meals and cheapening the food experience," Chipotle co-CEO Monty Moran said in an interview with Belus Capital Advisors' Brian Sozzi.

"That is traditional fast food, and we think that's going away," he said. "We, and others like us, will replace that."

Chipotle plans to undercut McDonald's and other traditional chains by opening more outlets and expanding into different types of cuisine, as they are doing with their nascent Asian and pizza chains, ShopHouse and Pizzeria Locale, Moran said.

Full article: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/chipotle-believes-completely-replace-fast-172041095.html

[carpnter]

Right I can see people stopping in a Chipotle to grab a burrito to eat on the road. 

[spuwho]

Odd diss on McDonald's as they were an original investor in Chipotle.

[vicupstate]

It Chipotle is serious about eliminating McD's, Wendy's  and BK, they better get a Dollar Menu going.

[spuwho]

Dollar menu don't seem to helping them.

[fsquid]

Completely replaces is hyperbole, but there has been a shift.

[funwithteeth]

It Chipotle is serious about eliminating McD's, Wendy's  and BK, they better get a Dollar Menu going.

Well, given that he's criticizing the "cheapening of the raw ingredients," a dollar menu is precisely what Chipotle wants to avoid. Dollar-menu items use the lowest of what's already lower-grade meat.

[pierre]

Based on my experiences, I am  not sure I would put McDonalds and Wendy's in the same category.

[Lunican]

Why can't McDonald's and Chipotle exist at the same time? I think McDonald's has a lot of staying power anyway.

[funwithteeth]

Monty Moran is just engaging in a little trash talk.

[TheCat]

Dollar menus are the ultimate rip off.

[vicupstate]

It Chipotle is serious about eliminating McD's, Wendy's  and BK, they better get a Dollar Menu going.

Well, given that he's criticizing the "cheapening of the raw ingredients," a dollar menu is precisely what Chipotle wants to avoid. Dollar-menu items use the lowest of what's already lower-grade meat.

Exactly, which is why the places that offer it aren't going to disappear.  $7 at Chipotle will get you a much better meal than McD's, but $2 at Chipotle won't get you anything but a drink.

[spuwho]

Dollar menus make for great ad copy and are supposed to drive traffic into the place, but research shows that less than 3 out of 10 people who come for a dollar menu end up actually buying from it.

I don't have the link, but the point is that the menu isn't about value, it's about driving ones impulse.

[PeeJayEss]

Dollar menus are the ultimate rip off.

Dollar menus make for great ad copy and are supposed to drive traffic into the place, but research shows that less than 3 out of 10 people who come for a dollar menu end up actually buying from it.

I don't have the link, but the point is that the menu isn't about value, it's about driving ones impulse.

The dollar menu is a loss leader at all the fast food restaurants. It is a price race to the bottom between the various restaurants and results in the need to lower ingredient and labor costs. Buying from the dollar menu is killing the company, the employees, and yourself. The last one is literally.