Falling between a fast food and casual dining restaurant, Chipotle has to face competition from a

wide range of competitors. Qdoba Mexican Eats, Moe's Southwest Grill, Baja Fresh Mexican
Grill, and Rubio's Coastal Grill are amongst their main competitors. These competitors have
managed to stay ahead of Chiptle by managing to charge lower price. Since Chipotle uses
organic ingredients their menu’s price is much higher.

For its main ingredients, comprising of chicken, pork, and beef, Chipotle Mexican Grill Chipotle
is dependent on a limited number of suppliers. This has reduced their bargaining power and
limited their and more inflexible compared to its competitors.

Competitors of Chipotle have managed to offer more variety of items which includes
quesadillas, burritos, burrito bowls, tacos, nachos, salads and even a Stack, their version of a
Taco Bell crunchwrap supreme. Taco Bell has even used celebrity chef’s like Lorena Garcia
to create new upscale menu the consumers want. They have managed to attract a diverse range of
customers.

Although Chipotle is trying to use digital platforms and make their restaurants more
advanced it still lacks behind its competitors. Taco Bell and Moe’s offer more welcoming a
atmosphere. They does charge for any form of chips and dip, small gestures like this create a
more friendly atmosphere overall.

Chipotle also completed with companies outside fast casual and dining market like in store
café and deli section. They are able to provide better stores with convenient locations,
including more effective marketing while also having the benefit of lower operational cost.

https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/food-babe-investigates-chipotle-vs-moes/

https://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/08/tv/taco-bell-goes-gourmet-celebrity-chef-lorena-garcia-talks-
about-partnering-with-the-company-to-create-a-fresh-menu/index.html#:~:text=Taco%20Bell%20goes
%20gourmet%20with%20Chef%20Garcia&text=Taco%20Bell%20is%20going%20gourmet,menu%20will
%20launch%20in%20July.

https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/food-babe-investigates-chipotle-vs-moes/
IBC ASSIGNMENT

Malaysia is its aim of becoming a high income economy from a middle income economy by 2024( World
bank 2020)

https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/malaysia/overview

Starting up Chipotle is likely to be successful because of the agriculture sector which is a major sector of
the economy.

Cause-related marketing-One of their favorite ways of marketing is to have people submit various
humorous haikus that can be features on the wrappers of their burritos

One of the key strategies that Chipotle can use to differentiate themselves from its competitors in
Malaysia is by appointing a team of staff headed by the chief chef which will be experienced and will
come up with a new menu that is not used by competitors before.

On average men and women are married by the age of 27 in Malaysia. (Malaysian men getting married
later in life, 2020) Along with this the child bearing have for couples are 30, this means that most of the
segmented market for Chipotle in Malaysia will have a family that they need to support. Considering
Chipotle is already testing new children’s menu, this will be an important attraction for the family’s living
in Malaysia. (Chipotle Will Test a Quesadilla, and a New Strategy, 2020)

Prolonged hours of work and workload escalation has become a normal issue for a middle income
economy like Malaysia. (World bank 2020) This has impacted eating habits for the working class as the
scarcity of time has been reduced which means these people are not willing to spend more than 40
minutes per eating session, raising the demand for eating fast food outside their respective homes.

Generation Y’s willingness to pay premium price in order to consumer organic food shows the increase
in demand for businesses to provide healthy foods. (Thambiah, Khin, Muthaiyah and Yen, 2015).
Increasing health awareness is amongst the leading factors for people wanting to consumer organic food
and the 2020 pandemic has tripled the interest for people to shift to healthy foods.( Food navigator 2020)

The Star Online. 2020. Malaysian Men Getting Married Later In Life. [online] Available at:
<https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/12/29/malaysian-men-getting-married-later-in-
life#:~:text=Muslims%20got%20married%20earlier%20with,2016%20to%20190%2C532%20last
%20year.> [Accessed 11 September 2020].
https://www.ssb.no/260132/average-age-of-parents-at-childs-birth-sy-72 (NOT ADDED)

Thambiah, S., Khin, A., Muthaiyah, S. and Yen, Y., 2015. Organic Food Consumption among Generation
Y in Malaysia: A Conceptual Framework. Journal of Applied Sciences, 15(3), pp.570-575.

Nytimes.com. 2020. Chipotle Will Test A Quesadilla, And A New Strategy. [online] Available at:
<https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/21/business/chipotle-nachos-quesadillas-new-menu.html> [Accessed
11 September 2020].

One of the leading factor for the increase in value for the profit sector was due to quick transaction
offered by the growth in food industry. The fast food market accounts for over 22% of the food industry
and is valued over xx locally in 2019.This is driven mostly by the international brands which builds up
33% of the market. This shows how popular the western food culture in amongst the Malaysian
population. Along with this the demand for dining restaurants providing a quality experience is also
increasing at an average rate of 6.9% and is expected to go on for the coming years (Malaysia – The
future of foodservice 2021, 2020). Since Chipotle offers quality along with interactions with the
customers by making the food in front of them, the increase in demand in this sector will also have a
huge impact on people giving priority to Chipotle over its competitors.

Verdict Foodservice. 2020. Malaysia – The Future Of Foodservice To 2021. [online] Available at:
<https://www.verdictfoodservice.com/market-data/malaysia-future-foodservice-2021/> [Accessed 13
September 2020].

The precious time family members gather to have meals together have decreased. Price is one of the
most important factors that impacts purchase decision. Comparing with other households Millenial
households tend to spend the highest percentage of their food consumption on fast food and quality
dining. On average they spend $259 per month, which is almost 30% of their spending
on food consumption. On an individual basis recent research has suggested that
the only thing that millennial does not hold back is spending on the
consumption of food. The two most concentrated areas for food consumption
were Klang Valley and Terengganu with over 3,540 random working adults.
According to survey conducted to over 35000 people, 38% Malaysian
consume fast food 3 times a week while almost 10% admitted to
consuming fast food 8-10 times a week. Since almost 50% did not answer
it leaves only 1% of people who do not consume fast food on a monthly
basis. exposed to the social world the generation z is highly influenced by
the western lifestyle adding with the brand influence adopted through social
media and television and other mass exhibits.
 In addition, the younger generation who are easily influence by western lifestyles
portrayed through the television and mass media, exhibit a preference towards fast
food restaurants (Akbay, Tiryaki,Gul, 2006).

In addition, convenience is the main asset and attraction point of the fast food
restaurant

(World Bank )2020

https://foodindustryexecutive.com/2020/02/grocery-shopping-habits-of-gen-z-and-
millennials/#:~:text=Most%20food%20spending%20is%20for%20groceries&text=Millennial
%20households%20spend%20%24874%20on,is%20married%20millennials%20with%20children.

Statista. 2020. Malaysia - Average Fast Food Consumption Per Week 2016-2018 | Statista. viewed 14
September 2020 <https://www.statista.com/statistics/561279/malaysia-average-fast-food-consumption-
per-week/#:~:text=This%20statistic%20shows%20the%20results,less%20than%20once%20per
%20week.>

Abdullah, N., Mohamad Mokhtar, M., Abu Bakar, M. and Al-Kubaisy, W., 2017. Fast Food Consumption
and Obesity. Asian Journal of Quality of Life, vol 2,no.6, p.11.

Xiao, A., Yang, S. and Iqbal, Q., 2018. Factors Affecting Purchase Intentions in Generation Y: An
Empirical Evidence from Fast Food Industry in Malaysia. Administrative Sciences, Vol. 9, No.1, p.4.

Food Industry Executive. 2020. Grocery Shopping Habits Of Gen Z And Millennials - Food Industry
Executive viewed 12 September 2020 <https://foodindustryexecutive.com/2020/02/grocery-shopping-
habits-of-gen-z-and-millennials/#:~:text=Most%20food%20spending%20is%20for
%20groceries&text=Millennial%20households%20spend%20%24874%20on,is%20married
%20millennials%20with%20children.> [Accessed 14 September 2020].

AIM

The overall aim of this project is to bring Chipotle, A healthy fast food restaurant into Malaysia in order
to overcome the increasing health issues faced by Malaysians while also provide quick and tasty fast
food. Keeping Chipotle’s mission statement of serving “ food with integrity” at the core while
taking into account the local health issues, our CSR will be focused on providing
organic and healthy options from raw ingredients made by local farmers. This will
appeal to the a large section of the population due to concept of being fast food
which is also healthy. The youngsters will be get the brand appeal of Chipotle while
the young adults will be more flexible in terms of budget.