Chipotle Mexican Grill is adding more workers to its customer-facing makelines in an ongoing quest to boost throughput, the company said Wednesday.
CEO Brian Niccol also said workers can expect to see more training on a regular basis, and even managers are going back to “school,” as the chain pushes to find the right balance between in-restaurant service on the front makeline and digital orders coming through the back of the house.
The fast-casual chain’s efforts to improve throughput appear to be paying off.
Same-store sales were up 7.4% for the June 30-ended second quarter with the help of a more than 4% increase in transactions, though smaller group sizes had a negative impact on the mix of 2% as guests returned to office work and their pre-pandemic purchase habits. In-restaurant sales increased 15.8%, while digital sales remained relatively high at 38%.
And, though low-income diners appeared to pull back a bit earlier this year, Niccol said the chain saw strong demand from both high- and low-income guests during the second quarter.
“I think that’s why we had such a strong traffic performance in the quarter,” said Niccol. “And we continue to exit that quarter with really healthy traffic, or transaction trends. So we’re not seeing any weakness in the lower-income consumers. If anything, they’ve continued to improve and we’re feeling really good about the value proposition.”
Niccol, who has been a dog with a bone on improving throughput in recent months, said the chain has made improvements, but he still feels restaurants can do better.
Earlier this year, Chipotle rolled out a training program called Project Square One designed to ensure restaurants are fully staffed and properly deployed, to avoid some of the pandemic-era situations, like running out of certain menu items during peak times. That program has “wrapped,” Niccol said, but now training will become more a part of the chain’s DNA, with crew members being retrained on a quarterly basis on bring “brilliant at basics.”
And soon Chipotle will deploy four crew members on the frontline, rather than three with an expeditor who could jump to the digital makeline, if needed. Niccol said the expo will now be coached to stay on the front makeline to bring together items in an order, communicate with the cashier, and alleviate any bottlenecks.
Tweaks to deployment have been tested and so far they appear to be working, Niccol said. He told of a visit to a unit in New York City—one that he had visited a year ago—where an expo was in place and balance between the front and back makelines was achieved.
The stores operated by that field leader improved by nearly five entrees in the peak 15 minutes, compared with the prior year, he said.
“His restaurants are also out-comping his region and the company average, demonstrating that throughput drives performance,” said Niccol. “This is the type of leader we want to develop, one that builds a strong team, runs world-class restaurants, ensures we serve exceptional food every day and inspires our teams to achieve great results.”
To develop such leaders, the company is relaunching its Cultivate University for newly promoted field leaders, a three-day training program designed to help with the transition from managing one store as a general manager to around eight restaurants as a field leader, which could be a $20 million business.
With 255 to 285 new openings planned this year, Chipotle said it will create about 7,000 new jobs. The chain also hopes to exceed its rate of promotions from last year, when more than 22,000 crew members moved up the ranks.
To help fill those positions, the chain is bringing back its Behind the Foil ad campaign, which first debuted in 2019 with a documentary-style look at what it’s like to work at a Chipotle.
“This campaign provides unfiltered and emotional testimonials from our team members about the impact Chipotle has had on their lives as well as a glimpse into our daily preparation using our real ingredients and classic culinary techniques, a key differentiator for Chipotle,” Niccol said. “What better way to make the brand more visible, more relevant and more loved than to feature our talented restaurant team members preparing exceptional food.”
During the second quarter, Chipotle’s Al Pastor LTO was popular, accounting for one in five transactions. Even better, it helped boost margins because beef costs are rising.
Niccol said a new menu item is coming soon, though he gave no hints about what it might be.
The chain is doing a broader rollout of dual-sided grills to 10 high-volume locations. The new grills can cook chicken in less than four minutes (compared with 12 minutes on the plancha), and steak in less than one minute (compared with four minutes). The grills allow crew to cook in smaller batches, keeping makelines stocked during peak hours, and they free up more space on the plancha, which Niccol said could someday allow for other menu items to join the lineup.
Chipotle also plans to roll out new streamlined rice cookers to about 200 restaurants this year.
Designed to improve the crew member experience in restaurants, the new grill and rice cooker are part of an ongoing series of automation advances. Chipotle is testing a new collaborative robot that can cut, peel and core avocados, for example, and a fully automated makeline that Niccol said could appear in restaurants by next year.
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