Chipotle COO Jason Kidd is focused on the basics while scaling innovation

Jason Kidd has been in the chief operating officer role at Chipotle Mexican Grill just over a year now and he’s certainly had his hands full.

Kidd joined just as the fast-casual Mexican concept began ramping up its menu introductions, and significantly. Historically, the company introduced maybe two limited-time offers per year, usually proteins. But last year, CEO Scott Boatwright said those LTOs were “working too hard” and consumers were demanding more new news, like sides and dips.

But Kidd also came on board amid a rare stretch of negative traffic and soft sales at the chain. Based on an impact study conducted by the brand in 2024, his directive out of the gate was to make sure the team was “guest obsessed,” which meant restaurants were clean, staff members were friendly, and orders were speedy and accurate. As Kidd described in a recent interview, the goal is to be “brilliant at the basics.”

Guest obsessed strategy

The company recently held an all-managers conference to unpack and reiterate this goal with a focus on delivering “real hospitality” to complement its “real ingredients” brand positioning. To build that guest-obsessed mindset, teams held in-restaurant, all-hands sessions to practice real-life scenarios — including how to say “yes” to some of the most difficult requests they’ve ever received.

“What team members and leaders want is to have the ability and autonomy to say ‘yes,’” Kidd said. “They know the opportunity for us to thrive comes from being maniacal about the guest experience. What does ‘real’ hospitality look like? It’s ongoing, not a check-the-box exercise.”

Such an exercise requires leaders at the support center to remove friction for those team members in the restaurants, whether back-of-house, front-of-house, or digital, so they can better focus on such customer-facing experiences.

Chipotle has “done a lot of work” to ensure it has the right employees deployed at the right restaurants during the right shifts, for instance. This is why the company recently expanded its apprentice program with a goal of having the role — essentially an assistant general manager — in every restaurant by the end of 2027. The company said the approximately 75% of restaurants that already have this position in place generate stronger operational scores than those do not.

“Ours is a growth story. We’re opening about 350 restaurants annually and we need people on the bench to be ready to run those new restaurants. We have to make sure we have a strong succession ladder with our people,” Kidd said.

Operational improvements

Beyond staffing, Chipotle is also “removing friction” through its High Efficiency Equipment Package (HEEP), which includes a three-pan rice cooker, dual-sided plancha, high-capacity fryer, and a produce slicer. The package is currently in about 1,500 restaurants and will be in 2,000 by the end of the year, including every new restaurant. Kidd said the equipment has led to the reduction of cooking time, higher volumes, and better consistency.

“We’re seeing nice gains from [HEEP],” he said. “Over time, our teams will be able to cook protein 30% faster, giving more opportunities to keep the frontline consistent and react and plan better.”

These initiatives were inspired by a reminder written on a wall at the company’s Newport Beach, California, support center that says, “The answers are in the restaurants.”

“The more time we spend in our restaurants is how we make sure we’re entrenched in reality,” Kidd said.

Menu innovation

This operational groundwork enabled the company to launch two LTOs simultaneously for the first time in company history with the Pollo Asado and Chili Lime Chips. Kidd said the double introduction in August gave the team confidence that the company can do even more going forward.

“They built a strong muscle memory through successful and successive chicken LTOs (Chipotle most recently introduced Honey Chicken). They’re already familiar with the core grilled technique, so we were careful on how we sequenced it,” he said.

That meant rolling out the Pollo Asado while keeping the Chili Lime Chips as an exclusive digital offering for a few days to make sure the team could handle both. The company made adjustments during its stage-gate process; for example, seasoning Pollo Asado before putting it on the grill.

“We needed a process for consistency and strengthened training with two tools — a visual seasoning chart to show how much coverage should be on the chicken, and shoulder-to-shoulder training leading up to the launch so team members could calibrate what the chicken is supposed to look like when it comes off the grill,” Kidd said.

With the chips, Chipotle had to introduce a new “light shaking” process to ensure consistent seasoning.

While Kidd said this accelerated menu innovation is exciting, he made it a point to note that the core menu will remain the chain’s North Star.

“We believe no one has a stronger core than we do. That won’t change. But we’re now also able to surprise and delight guests with (new items),” he said. “We want to deliver what our customers demand and that is an incredible experience and great food served by great people. We will keep a high focus on those two things — food and people — because that’s what makes Chipotle special.”