Chipotle Shifts Focus to Strengthen Brand Identity After Health Food Restaurant Concept’s Failure

Chipotle, a well-known fast food chain, has decided to refocus on its main brand after the closure of its health food restaurant concept, Farmesa. The futuristic concept, which only opened one location in the Los Angeles area in 2023, relied heavily on kiosks and third-party delivery apps for ordering and featured healthy foods such as proteins, greens, grains, and vegetables.

Despite initial optimism about the concept from Nate Lawton, vice president of new ventures at Chipotle, the company’s CEO Brian Niccol has chosen to shift the focus towards turning Chipotle into an iconic brand rather than exploring new concepts. While Niccol hasn’t completely ruled out the possibility of a new concept in the future, he emphasized that their current priority is to grow and solidify the Chipotle brand both in the U.S. and internationally.

The closure of Farmesa comes amid a challenging time for fast-food operators in California where the state implemented a $20 minimum wage for workers earlier this year. To offset increased labor costs, Chipotle had to raise prices by 6%-7% in the state.