Chipotle’s has nixed ghost kitchen concept Farmesa a little more than a year after announcing the brand.
The concept was sold through Kitchen United’s Santa Monica location, which shuttered in February. The struggling Kitchen United has since been sold to C3 and is pivoting away from the ghost kitchen segment.
Farmesa was a bowl-centric brand featuring proteins, greens, grains, and vegetables inspired by Chipotle’s “Food with Integrity” standards. It also offered 100 percent certified organic and all-natural drinks from Tractor Beverage Co and sparkling water. The menu was formulated by James Beard Award-winning chef Nate Appleman, who served as director of culinary innovation for Farmesa and also led menu ideas for Chipotle in the mid-to-late 2000s.
Chipotle chief customer and technology officer Curt Garner told CNBC that the company isn’t planning to open a brick-and-mortar version, but he added that the brand will live on through the innovation lab as an inspiration for new menu items.
During Chipotle’s Q1 earnings call, CEO Brian Niccol told investors “right now we are much more focused on just turning Chipotle into an iconic brand” inside and outside the U.S. And the fast casual is doing well at accomplishing that goal; same-store sales grew 7 percent in Q1, backed by transaction growth of 5.4 percent. Also, revenue lifted 14.1 percent year-over-year to $2.7 billion.
Chipotle opened 47 stores in Q1—43 of which had a Chipotlane. The brand ended the quarter with 3,479 units and plans to debut 285–315 this year. The chain recently announced its entry into Kuwait, its first new international market in more than a decade. It marked the first time Chipotle signed a development agreement with an operator.
However, Niccol didn’t rule out the idea of another spinoff in the future.
“Obviously, if the opportunity presents itself, where it would make sense for us to do something outside of the brand, so I never want to say never, but it’s just not a focus area for us right now,” the CEO said.