A chicken burrito, guacamole, bag of tortilla chips and a drink at a Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. restaurant in El Segundo, California.
Patrick T. Fallon | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Chipotle Mexican Grill announced Tuesday that it will be opening a new restaurant in Canada for the first time since 2018 as it accelerates its Canadian expansion over the next 12 months.
The new restaurant will open on March 30th. The Burrito chain announced that it will add eight new locations in Canada, including one with a “Chipotlane” for picking up digital orders. Chipotle operates 23 Canadian restaurants, most of which are concentrated in and around Vancouver and Toronto.
“We will experiment with different location formats and restaurant designs across the country to measure consumer preferences in different markets,” CFO Jack Hartung said in a statement.
It has taken Chipotle longer than its peers to grow its international footprint as it focused on revitalizing US sales after a string of foodborne disease outbreaks battered its business a few years ago. Chipotle implemented new security measures and added menu items to lure customers back. It has also built several sites with chipotlanes.
The company has more than 2,750 locations worldwide, most of them in the United States
Chipotle’s shares are up more than 5% this year, equating to a market value of more than $ 41 billion. The stock gained 1.6% on Tuesday.
