In article >,
says...
> > Along those lines, you might want to look into the Chipotle restaurant
> > phenomenon here in the U.S. They make fast food burritos (and other
> > stuff, but mostly burritos) to order. Although they're now owned by
> > McDonalds, they got their start on a small scale, growing through an
> > emphasis on quality ingredients, authenticity, decent employment
> > conditions, etc. I assume there are McD's where you are. If so, and if
> > what you're attempting is successful, Chipotle or some other clone may
> > not be far behind. Maybe you could look into getting whatever the
> > Brazilian equivalent of a trademark is for your "rech " if you sell more
> >
> > than a few a day...
> >
> > Bob
>
> Thanks. Actually I found the Chipotle website while googling
> chipotle peppers. I borrowed a couple of ideas from them; for instance
> I didn't know you could make fajitas in advance and keep them in a
> warmer, so I added that to the lineup but with a localized name-- more
> than one of my guinea pigs commented that it's like chicken xadrez,
> xadrez meaning chess or checkered:
>
> http://culinaria.terra.com.br/receit...-EI171,00.html
>
> Also, I plan to pay my employees a bonus based on store sales, so
> they should do considerably better than other fast-food workers. Given
> the location, demand, and efficient setup, I expect we'll all do well.
>
> Thanks, too, for the heads-up about McDonalds. There is a McD's two
> blocks away. Anything American has prestige, so that must be how they
> get by-- their prices are absurd by local standards. I have nothing
> against McD's (really!), but rarely go there. I went in last month
> just to get a feel for competition, and paid R$8.75 for a basic combo,
> which in the local economy is like paying around U$20 given that
> minimum wage here is about R$1.50 (U$.50) per hour. Something like
> that-- it costs six hours' pay at minimum wage, vs. whatever a Big Mac
> combo costs in the U.S. Anyway, the burger wasn't even that fresh;
> they were obviously breaking company guidelines to cut corners and
> save a little money. McD's biggest selling point is consistency of
> experience worldwide, but this local unit isn't quite playing the
> game. But getting to my point, my prices will be about 40% less than
> McD's for better food. If they brought Chipotle here, would their
> prices be competitive?
>
> IB
>
Thanks for the url. I've bookmarked it for future reference. My wife
has Portuguese roots, so I'm sure she'll find the site interesting.

I believe the Chipotle chain started out as a high-minded venture to
offer good, high-guality Mexican-style fast food at decent prices, and
to offer decent employment, management and franchising opportunities for
minority (mainly Latino) workers. They apparently achieved all of these
goals, and grew quite a bit on their own before the McD acquisition,
which seemed to be kept fairly quiet, as such things go.

Chipotle has continued to grow, and as far as I know, McD has not
significantly changed the basic plan. No doubt they're able to
piggyback on McD's distribution system and buying power and improve the
bottom line that way, in addition to simply being popular.

The employees all seem to be hard working and glad to be doing what
they're doing, so I assume they're treated well. I've been to three
different Chipotle stores and within the limitations of the menu they
offer, the food in each has been good and the service pleasant and
efficient.

Given what you've said about McD's prices in your area, I'd guess that
it's unlikely a Chipotle outlet would be any more reasonably priced, so
you probably don't have much to McWorry about...

Bob