Chipotle is one of the greatest success stories in the fast food industry of the past decade. A 2024 report from Technomic, covered in , ranked Chipotle as the ninth biggest restaurant chain in America, with over 3,300 locations across the country at the end of 2023. However, despite the announcement that the chain is opening its first locations in the Middle East, it still doesn't have a huge international footprint.
As of this writing, the company operates or plans to operate in six countries: the United States, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and now Kuwait. Chipotle is using the new Kuwait location as a test market for new business innovations, such as restaurant formats and digital ordering advancements. What's even more surprising is that even though Chipotle is a big presence in America, it only has 68 units in those other five countries.
In a unique move for a major restaurant chain, the brand's European and Canadian locations are not franchises. However, the new locations in Kuwait will be operated in partnership with the Alshaya Group, a major player in the Middle East. And while it may feel like there's a Chipotle in every mall and on every street corner in the U.
S., it's not currently the in the country. That honor, as of 2022, belongs to Jersey Mike's.
The brand's slow growth outside of America If its Canadian operations are any indication, Chipotle prefers to slowly roll out into other countries as it monitors potential growth trends. Canada is curr.