Chipotle Is Getting Smart About Menu Additions

For much of its history, Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) bucked the traditional fast food psychology around menu additions. While its rivals tend to rotate items on their menus with limited time offers, Chipotle stuck to the basics. It offered four types of meat (barbacoa, steak, chicken, and carnitas), available in burritos, bowls, tacos, or salads, with customizable toppings.

That strategy worked wonders and Chipotle stock surged by more than 1,000% in its first decade on the market. In 2014, Chipotle expanded its menu nationally with the addition of sofritas, a marinated tofu-based entree that was its first dedicated vegan/vegetarian option. As of July of that year, sofritas made up just 3.5% of entree orders, but the item expanded the menu to vegans and vegetarians.

Image source: Chipotle.

Source: Fool.com