Chipotle Mexican Grill to launch new spinoff, Farmesa Fresh Eatery, in a California ghost kitchen

Chipotle Mexican Grill is launching a caller spinoff, called Farmesa Fresh Eatery, successful a California shade kitchen.

It's the latest effort by the burrito concatenation to subdivision retired into caller cuisines. Its past spinoffs — Asian ShopHouse and Tasty Made — occurred nether laminitis Steve Ells' enactment and were unopen down by 2017. The institution besides invested successful Pizzeria Locale.

Farmesa marks the archetypal specified experimentation during CEO Brian Niccol's tenure, and the institution is taking a much measured attack this clip around, leaning connected its tried-and-true customizable bowls.

The marque volition person a brushed opening successful precocious February with a constricted paper and shorter hours earlier its authoritative motorboat successful March.

Farmesa's bowls volition diagnostic a protein, greenish oregon grain, 2 sides, 1 of 5 sauces and a topping option. Prices volition scope from $11.95 to $16.95. The brand's sanction is simply a portmanteau of "farm" and "mesa," the Spanish connection for table, successful an effort to pass its farm-to-table approach.

The afloat menu, created by Farmesa's manager of culinary innovation, cook Nate Appleman, volition see whipped potatoes, aureate beets and everything spice-crusted Ora King salmon. Appleman, who won a James Beard grant successful 2009, antecedently helped Chipotle adhd to its sparse paper successful the 2000s.

Chipotle isn't readying connected utilizing its ain branding overmuch for Farmesa. Nate Lawton, Chipotle's vice president of caller ventures and the designer down the spinoff, said the institution volition initially present it to customers arsenic a caller marque from Chipotle. And, "when the clip is right," Lawton said, Chipotle volition usage its loyalty programme database to pull imaginable Farmesa customers.

Customers volition beryllium capable to bid Farmesa astatine the upcoming determination astatine Kitchen United Mix connected 3rd Street successful Santa Monica, California, oregon for pickup oregon transportation done third-party transportation apps, similar DoorDash and UberEats. When opened, the Santa Monica determination volition beryllium Kitchen United's 24th shade kitchen.

Ghost kitchens, which are besides known arsenic unreality oregon acheronian kitchens, let restaurants to hole nutrient solely for delivery. Startups similar Kitchen United, which had raised $175 cardinal arsenic of precocious July, location aggregate edifice brands wrong 1 determination and tout their models arsenic much businesslike since they little labour and rent costs for eateries.

For Chipotle, Kitchen United's exemplary allows the edifice concatenation to trial retired the caller marque with reduced risk.

"We've truly tried to physique successful a local, low-cost, flexible and accelerated mode to learn, which I deliberation was 1 of the cardinal learnings we took distant from our past work," said Lawton, who joined Chipotle past twelvemonth aft 2 decades astatine Procter & Gamble.

Farmesa tin easy tweak its paper based connected lawsuit feedback, and Kitchen United volition grip expediting orders and dealing with customers, leaving the marque to absorption connected learning arsenic overmuch arsenic it can. Lawton said the archetypal determination is meant to recognize what customers bash and don't privation and the economics of the caller brand.

And portion Chipotle executives noted earlier this period that transportation income fell 15% successful the fourth quarter compared with the year-earlier period, Lawton said Santa Monica consumers bid transportation 9 times much often than the nationalist average, different origin that made Kitchen United charismatic for the company.

For now, Chipotle's main intent with the determination is simply to learn, but that doesn't mean Farmesa won't grow.

Lawton said there's a "variety of ways" that the institution could determination guardant with the caller brand, though it plans to support it abstracted from Chipotle restaurants.

"While 1 determination does not beget a chain, we deliberation the Farmesa Fresh Eatery marque does awesome the institution sees an accidental to turn beyond its halfway conception utilizing galore of attributes of the Chipotle marque (e.g., elemental menu, 'real' ingredients, casual operations)," Citi Research expert Jon Tower wrote successful a Jan. 24 enactment to clients earlier Chipotle officially announced Farmesa's launch.