Chipotle celebrates 2nd anniversary by doubling its commitment to Cultivate Next Venture Fund to $100 million

• Introduced in 2022 $50 million Chipotle is further strengthening its commitment to the Cultivate Next venture fund. $50 million
• Cultivate Next will continue to pursue new investments in supply chain, agriculture, restaurant innovation, automation and other areas that support Chipotle’s mission to cultivate a better world.
• Chipotle made additional investments in previously announced cohorts Local Lines and Hyphen

Newport Beach, California, February 28, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) today announced an increased commitment to its Cultivate Next venture fund through March 2019. $50 millionwhich makes the fund’s total investment pool 100 million dollars. Introduced in 2022, Cultivate Next will make early-stage investments in strategically aligned companies to further Chipotle’s mission to cultivate a better world, and the company’s commitment to operate 7,000 restaurants at Chipotle. will contribute to accelerating its aggressive long-term growth plans. North America.

“Our decision to double our commitment to the Cultivate Next venture fund makes it clear that we are investing in the right companies that we can learn from and leverage to improve the human experience for restaurant teams, farmers, and suppliers. ,” he said. Kurt Garner, Chief Customer and Technology Officer, Chipotle. “The concurrent growth of Chipotle and our partners continues to further our mission of pioneering a better world by increasing access to real food.”

Develop your next investment destination

Over the years, Chipotle has invested in a wide range of companies innovating in areas such as agriculture, supply chain, advanced robotics and plant-based foods.new $50 million This initiative expands the company’s existing portfolio, which now includes:

• local line
  • Local Line is the leading local food sourcing platform for regional food systems, serving farms, producers, food hubs, and food buyers. In less than a year, Chipotle’s investment has helped Local Line digitize its operations, improve customer retention, build a farm database and expand services to international farms. Europe, Australiaand new zealand. At the same time, Local Lines is a key partner in helping Chipotle meet its local produce sourcing goals.
  • The platform’s early success has led Cultivate Next to make additional investments in Local Line. Chipotle also plans to leverage Local Line to provide grants to local farms within 350 miles of the new restaurant. The company plans to open 285 to 315 new stores in 2024.
• green field robotics
  • GreenField Robotics is a company founded with a vision to make regenerative agriculture more efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable by leveraging the latest advances in AI, robotics, and sensing technologies. . The company’s autonomous agricultural robots can weed crops day and night, reducing the need for toxic herbicides. With its investment in Cultivate Next, GreenField continues to build out its fleet of robots, currently operating on farms in several states, and releases additional robot capabilities such as microspraying, cover crop planting, and soil testing. Masu.
• Nitric acidity
  • Nitricity is a company that tackles greenhouse gas emissions by developing fertilizer products that are better for fields, farmers, and the environment. The funding from Cultivate Next will be used to expand Nitricity’s nitrogen production, build the company’s infrastructure and support the launch of its first commercial product within the next two years.
• veb
  • Vebu is a product development company that works with food industry leaders to co-develop intelligent automation and technology solutions. Chipotle is working with Vebu to build and scale Autocado, Vebu’s proprietary avocado processing cobot prototype. Autocado is currently moving through the stage gate process with Chipotle, and he will undergo operational testing at one restaurant this spring.
• hyphen
  • Hyphen is a foodservice platform designed to help restaurant owners, managers, and budding chefs advance their businesses by automating kitchen operations. Chipotle is working with Hyphen to build a new digital make line that uses intelligent automation to make bowls and salads, and Chipotle employees will operate top make lines to make burritos, tacos, and quesadillas. I am. In the coming months, Chipotle’s Hyphen digital makeup line will debut at one of his restaurants as part of the company’s stage-gate process. Hyphen recently received additional investment from Chipotle through Cultivate Next.
• meety
  • Meati Foods offers nutritious whole food products made from MushroomRoot™. Chipotle continues to explore opportunities to put real, fresh vegetables at the center of our plates with innovative menus that uphold our honest food standards.
• zero acre farms
  • Zero Acre Farms is a food company focused on healthy, sustainable fats and oils with a mission to eliminate the food industry’s dependence on vegetable oils. The company has introduced a new category of healthy fats and oils made by fermentation that are more environmentally friendly. Chipotle is conducting an initial trial testing its Zero Acre farm at its cultivation center test kitchen in the city. Irvine, California.

“It’s incredible to see the potential that exists when you bring the right founder, start-up or venture company to work with Chipotle,” he said. christian gammill, to train the next generation of fund managers. “Seeing the progress our group has made over the past two years has motivated us to expand our efforts and drive real change in the areas of supply chains, agriculture, restaurant innovation and automation. .”

The future of Cultivate Next
Chipotle will continue to provide updates on the Cultivate Next Venture Fund in 2024 and beyond. Companies interested in collaborating with Chipotle through the Cultivate Next Venture Fund can apply by emailing Cultivate Next@chipotle.com.

About Chipotle
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG) serves real, traditionally prepared food made with responsibly sourced, wholesome ingredients and no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. By providing the following, we aim to make the world a better place.Chipotle had more than 3,400 restaurants at this time December 31, 2023in US, Canada, England, France and Germany We are the only restaurant company of our size to own and operate all of our restaurants. North America and Europe. Chipotle is a Fortune 500 company and has been named to Fortune’s Most Admired Companies 2024 list and Time Magazine’s Most Influential Companies. With more than 115,000 employees passionate about delivering a great guest experience, Chipotle is a longtime leader and innovator in the food industry. Chipotle remains a purposeful brand that leads in digital, technology and sustainable business practices, while also working to make our food more accessible to everyone. For more information or to order online, visit WWW.CHIPOTLE.COM.

Forward-looking statements
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including the Company’s planned number of new restaurants, 7,000 in Japan; Contains statements regarding our long-term plans to open restaurants. North America, and the likelihood of success of our investments. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based on currently available operating, financial and competitive information available to the Company as of the date of this release, and the Company does not intend to update these forward-looking statements. We are not obligated to do so. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the statements. This includes, but is not limited to, the effects of competition, including information from sources outside the restaurant industry. The economic impact of increasing average hourly wages. the impact of federal, state and local regulations regarding our workforce, employment practices, restaurant design and construction, and the sale of food or alcoholic beverages; the cost and availability of suitable new restaurant sites, construction materials and contractors; increases in raw material and other operating costs due to inflation, global conflicts, climate change, the Honest Foods philosophy, tariffs and trade restrictions, and supply shortages; and other risk factors are described from time to time in our SEC reports, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, all of which are available on our website (ir.Chipotle ) available on our Investor Relations page. Com.

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