When you think of Chipotle, you might just say oh it is just another fast food restaurant that offers Mexican food. Well that is not the case, there is so much more to this widely competitive company. Chipotle was founded in 1993 by Steve Ells who is a trained chef. Steve originally opened the first Chipotle restaurant with the intention of building a place where you could eat delicious food of the finest ingredients cheaply. In 2006 they became publicly traded and have steadily grown from his original in Denver, CO to 1600 worldwide. Much of the success is attributed to the expanding customer base of Chipotle. The success of Chipotle stems from upper management’s ability to expand the operations while maintaining the current experience and quality of food.
Since the creation of this chain of restaurants profits have steadily increased from 12% to 24% annually. Chipotle as a company is now looking into new ventures such as the Southeast Asian inspired spinoff, Shop House.

The company’s vision statement is “to change the way people think about and eat fast food” and its mission statement is to provide “Food with Integrity” (Chipotle, 2014). The vision statement has been successful in driving to its front door where it’s not unusual to see a line leading to the assembly kitchen within an hour of closing. The mission statement is short but the company constantly works to ensure the quality of the food is consistent and fresh and stocks from reliable vendors. The strategy Chipotle uses in its vision and mission statement is to ensure they are intertwined. Chipotle exemplifies Michael E. Porter’s proposal that managers can make the organization more profitable and less vulnerable by using a differentiation strategy. Chipotle seeks to distinguish its food from all others in the industry. It uses the local grown and sustainable products