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Chipotle Succeeds By Breaking All The Rules

Chipotle Mexican Grill has arguably become the country's most successful fast-food chain in recent years by rejecting almost every major technique on which the industry was built. Not only does it not show the product, it doesn't advertise on television. It doesn't franchise. It has some of the highest ingredient costs in the industry. And customers wait as long as 10 minutes in lines.

Chipotle founder Steve Ells opened the first Chipotle in 1993 in an attempt to put a new twist on the taquerias he visited while working as a sous chef in San Francisco. Having trained at the Culinary Institute of America, Ells planned to use the eatery to make enough money to open a fine-dining restaurant.

The chain's founder says he sees potential for Chipotle to do in fast food what Whole Foods Market has done in the grocery industry: popularize natural foods by selling them in an appealing environment. But Ann Daniels, the executive director of purchasing, says the company simply can't get suppliers to produce enough organic ingredients.

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