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- Chipotle increased the total number of its restaurants by 124 locations in 2021.
- The growth is a result of successfully adding drive-thrus and mobile ordering.
- The new Chipotle Digital Kitchen shows how serious the chain is about these changes.
It’s been an undeniably strange year for fast food, but it might help us figure out where the industry is moving.
After restaurants suffered in 2020, most fast-food chains added more locations to their portfolios in 2021 based on available earnings data. Chipotle, Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut, and Chick-fil-A all opened more locations than they closed this year.
Chipotle opened 124 net new restaurants as of the end of Q3 2021, not the most in the industry, but they make up a relatively large portion of the chain’s total holdings. The fast-casual chain began the year with 2,768 locations, so it increased its total by about 4.5%.
Chipotle’s growth is a symptom of its success this year as it adapts to the changing fast food industry. The chain is fully embracing the onset of digital orders and drive-thrus with Chipotlanes over its original model, where customers ordered inside and watched workers construct their burrito bowls right in front of them.
Digital sales made up nearly half of all Chipotle orders in the third quarter, at 42.8% of sales for $840.4 million. They were up 8.6% over the same period in 2020, which was the year digital orders really grew thanks in part to the COVID-19 pandemic. With continued investment, Chipotle expects them to continue growing. Restaurants that include a Chipotlane have about 15% higher sales than restaurants opened in the same period without the drive-thru lane, Chipotle said in a statement. Of the 41 new Chipotles that opened in Q3 2021, 36 of them have Chipotlanes, Chipotle’s version of a drive-thru.
The newest restaurant format introduced by Chipotle, the Chipotlane Digital Kitchen, takes it even farther. It will only serve customers through digital orders. Customers place orders online or through the Chipotle app, then pick them up via a walk-up window or a Chipotlane.
The new format from Chipotle is in line with restaurant designs coming from competing brands, centering minimal design with technology integration and multiple ways for customers to access their orders.
Other chains that opened a high proportion of new locations are similarly adapting to the changing food landscape. Chick-fil-A, which opened 158 new restaurants, is famously adept at attracting customers to drive-thrus and popularizing multi-lane models. KFC, which opened 636 restaurants in 61 countries, also released its own Next Generation design and has been increasingly focused on drive-thru and mobile orders.
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