Three decades after a single burrito shop opened in Denver on the idea that food has the power to change the world, Chipotle Mexican Grill will carry that ethos into its very first Asian store, located in Gangnam, when it opens Wednesday.

The Denver-founded chain, which operates more than 3,700 restaurants worldwide, already runs company-owned locations in Canada and Western Europe, but Asia has remained untouched territory until now.

Chipotle said Korea offers both the consumers and the partner it needs to anchor its expansion across Asia under its vision of "Food with Integrity," and that Gangnam is a fitting foothold as a leading commercial district.

"This represents a very significant milestone in the growth strategy of our great companies," Chipotle CEO Scott Boatwright said during a media conference on the eve of the store opening. "Korea is really more than just our first market in Asia. It will help establish a standard in how we grow across the region."

The store operates under S&C Restaurants Holdings, a joint venture in which Big Bite Company — a Sangmidang Holdings affiliate that also runs Shake Shack and Jamba in Korea — holds 51 percent, with Chipotle holding the remaining 49 percent. It is Chipotle's first foreign-market joint venture, a break from its usual company-owned international model, granting S&C exclusive rights to operate the brand in Korea and Singapore. The structure pairs Chipotle's brand and operations playbook with a local partner that already has experience importing and running US fast-casual chains in Korea.

Boatwright described the partnership as a match between what Korean consumers want and what Chipotle can deliver.

"We know that this is a very sophisticated market, a very dynamic consumer, consumers who care deeply about what they put in their bodies," he said. "They want to understand the quality of the ingredients, where those ingredients are sourced, how those ingredients are prepared."

The new restaurant serves food assembly-line style: customers move down a counter, choose a base of burrito, bowl, taco, salad or quesadilla, and then build it out themselves with a protein, plus rice, beans and toppings such as salsa, cheese, sour cream and guacamole. The menu, preparation and ordering process match the US operation exactly, with ingredients prepared and menu items assembled fresh each morning at every location.

According to Hur Hee-soo, chief visionary officer of Sangmidang Holdings, a healthy, satisfying meal in Korea typically comes with "a high price, a long wait or a special occasion." Chipotle's customizable ordering model fills that gap, he said, through a flat-price principle: there is no price difference by menu format and no upcharge for extra toppings.

"Making the customization experience part of everyday life, that's the core of what we want to bring to the Korean market with Chipotle," Hur said. "What took up most of our time wasn't store design or interiors. It was building our ingredient supply chain."

On expansion, the venture plans to move at a measured pace, with Singapore already named as the next market under the joint venture's exclusive rights.

"Providing the same quality and experience at every location matters more to us than growing the store count quickly," Hur said. S&C intends to add a second and third Seoul outlet, both directly operated, by the end of the year, followed by a Singapore location in the first half of next year.

Source: Korea Herald Business