NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Chipotle (CMG - Get Report) kicks off the fifth year of its "Cultivate Festival" of food and music this weekend, and its benefits go beyond just bringing together fans of the chain's burritos and salad bowls.
"Cultivate," as company execs refer to it, will feature 26 hours of live music, celebrity chef demos, new recipes from Chipotle's stable of chefs, and attractions designed to bring awareness of food quality. The first stop will be in Phoenix, Ariz., followed by visits to Kansas City and Minneapolis. By visiting the event's attractions, which include a station with pig props and information on how livestock in the country is raised, attendees can "learn a free burrito."
For juggernaut Chipotle, the event is partly marketing for a brand that has prided itself on dishing out healthy fast food. But it's also meant to be a giant community event, not unlike Woodstock, where attendees numbering in the thousands can share recipes and discuss issues impacting America's food industry.
"The original idea of the event was to create a forum where we could bring people in and engage with them primarily through entertainment, with also a little knowledge, and make them more conscious about food and where it comes from," said Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold in an interview with TheStreet.
"The original idea of the event was to create a forum where we could bring people in and engage with them primarily through entertainment, with also a little knowledge, and make them more conscious about food and where it comes from," said Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold in an interview with TheStreet.
The popularity of the event has been growing each year, which interestingly coincides with sluggish sales and lagging stock price performance at Chipotle's former parentMcDonald's (MCD - Get Report).
Attendance for last year's three-city Cultivate Festival reached 70,000, up from 16,000 at a single event held in Chicago back in Oct. 2011. About 56% of last year's attendees received "passports," which are obtained by completing visits to the food knowledge attractions and can be redeemed for free burritos. In other words, people are not just coming to listen to the music and rub elbows with celebrity chefs, they are interested in Chipotle's messaging underlying the fast food it serves.
This growing interest by consumers in food origin, which Chipotle encourages withclever videos and events such as Cultivate, has translated into tasty sales for the burrito giant. Since Chipotle's first Cultivate festival in October 2011, its stock has skyrocketed 130%. Same-restaurant sales growth reached 16.8% in 2014, quicker than the 11.2% rise in 2011.
Attendance for last year's three-city Cultivate Festival reached 70,000, up from 16,000 at a single event held in Chicago back in Oct. 2011. About 56% of last year's attendees received "passports," which are obtained by completing visits to the food knowledge attractions and can be redeemed for free burritos. In other words, people are not just coming to listen to the music and rub elbows with celebrity chefs, they are interested in Chipotle's messaging underlying the fast food it serves.
This growing interest by consumers in food origin, which Chipotle encourages withclever videos and events such as Cultivate, has translated into tasty sales for the burrito giant. Since Chipotle's first Cultivate festival in October 2011, its stock has skyrocketed 130%. Same-restaurant sales growth reached 16.8% in 2014, quicker than the 11.2% rise in 2011.
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