Comments on: Does McDonalds Own Chipotle? – Mailbag

By: batman

batman — Tue, 10 May 2011 01:04:00 +0000

5-8-11 chipotle uses aluminum pots to cook their beans and sauces in. I got this directly from their customer service via email. I will not eat there anymore.

By: Binigirmay

Binigirmay — Wed, 04 May 2011 06:27:00 +0000

I heard the purpose of opening chipotle is to attract to the people who found out that mcdonalds food are not healthy any more then mcdonalds came up with the new idea by oppening chipotle. is these true?

By: Guru

Guru — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 22:44:00 +0000

I believe your piece is inaccurate in its catagorization of the Chipotle and McDonald’s ties. The term “fully-owned subsidiary” is not accurate in describing McD’s role in the Denver chain.

As for corporate DNA the man himself had this to say back during the buy back… Steve Ells, founder, chairman and CEO of Chipotle, said of McDonald’s disinvestment plan, “We’ve always operated independently and that won’t change as McDonald’s continues to reduce its investment.”

To be completely fair however, Chipotle hasn’t truly been independent. It relied on McDonald’s for a corporate services: Chipotle used McDonald’s real estate personnel to open new stores as well as for for legal, insurance and benefits service, and most importantly on its accounting services.

Just wanted to make sure people didn’t think the Big Mac and Barbacoa meat were in any way connected. This is a high linked article to McDonalds/Chipotle search queries so I hope people realize the main answer to your question “no, Chipotle is not owned by McDonalds as of 2009 but it once was” goes much further than how it sounds at first blush.

By: Neelie47

Neelie47 — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 01:14:00 +0000

I live in Pittsburgh, PA and needed to talk to a “corporate” person from Chipotle. I called about six area Chipotles and found that not one manager or GM knows a corporate phone number! This was very confusing to me. Is there such a number that I can contact the Steve Ells people? I have a very disturbing situation and find that no one can help me. Furthermore, the Baum Blvd. restaraunt is always out of organic meat! What is up with that? Anyhow, I read the article about McDonald’s not owning the stores. Who does? Again I find it so strange that I can’t call someone about my unfortunate situation with Chipotle’s Peeps.

By: jimbo

jimbo — Thu, 13 May 2010 08:01:46 +0000

The McDonalds 18-wheeler unloading at Chipotle is misleading. The trucks that deliver McDonalds products aren’t owned by McDonalds, but by the distribution center. Each distribution center has several clients, but McDonalds is far and away the largest. I would imagine that they contribute a LARGE amount of money to advertise on the trucks, but i can guarantee that they don’t actually own the vehicles themselves.

By: jimbo

jimbo — Thu, 13 May 2010 08:01:00 +0000

By: John Serrao

John Serrao — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 12:11:16 +0000

Max-
Chipotle very well could continue to use McDonald’s supply chain infrastructure, as we mentioned in the article, but, now that they are separate corporate entities, Chipotle would have to draft an agreement between themselves and McDonalds to use their facilities.

It may seem like a small difference but the two firms are now competitors so I would imagine any trade secret type best practices information sharing is strictly off limits.

By: John Serrao

John Serrao — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 12:11:00 +0000

It may seem like a small difference but the two firms are now competitors so I would imagine any trade secret type best practices information sharing is strictly off limits.

By: Max

Max — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 06:03:08 +0000

Last week, I saw a McDonald’s 18-wheeler unloading some boxes at Chipotle a little after midnight. Does McDonald’s transport their food for them?

By: Max

Max — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 06:03:00 +0000

Last week, I saw a McDonald’s 18-wheeler unloading some boxes at Chipotle a little after midnight. Does McDonald’s transport their food for them?

By: bow tie

bow tie — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 06:48:50 +0000

Great blog. Thanks for the interesting article. Will send others your way.

By: bow tie

bow tie — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 06:48:00 +0000

Great blog. Thanks for the interesting article. Will send others your way.

By: John Serrao

John Serrao — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 18:09:43 +0000

We received written confirmation from the Chipotle team that they do not use MSG or any of its chemical precursors like hydrolyzed wheat and autolyzed yeast extract in any of their foods.

By: John Serrao

John Serrao — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 18:09:00 +0000

We received written confirmation from the Chipotle team that they do not use MSG or any of its chemical precursors like hydrolyzed wheat and autolyzed yeast extract in any of their foods.

By: John Serrao

John Serrao — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:09:21 +0000

Good question…

Chipotle does not publicly disclose the ingredients in their food. I have sent out an email to them. We’ll see what they say. I just uploaded the nutrition information chart for their burritos onto this page. Hope it helps.

By: John Serrao

John Serrao — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:09:00 +0000

Good question…

By: stan mrak

stan mrak — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:55:59 +0000

The question I have is whether Chipotle uses food additives like MSG and others to spice up their meat.

By: stan mrak

stan mrak — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:55:00 +0000

The question I have is whether Chipotle uses food additives like MSG and others to spice up their meat.