John Gordon

Chipotle Mexican Grill: Too Hot To Handle?

I'm a restaurant sector analyst, and former Chief Financial Officer, who does analysis, research and due diligence projects in the restaurant sector.

I myself have not seen a price increase, have travelled throughout the Midwest and Western US and saw no price changes (yes--zone pricing might be an idea). But that said, there is a upper bound that prices can be pushed. But with raw materials going up so rapidly, restaurants must raise prices. They key is to do it smartly.

Finally, Chipotle is a well managed company. We are in a recession and consumers react. The key is to now survive the downturn, and be first out of the gate when conditions begin to improve. We have some time to go until that happens, however.