Chipotle Mexican Grill is testing radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology to enhance its traceability and inventory systems at its Chicago, US, distribution center and approximately 200 restaurants in the greater Chicago area. 

The fast-food chain is one of the first major restaurant companies to leverage RFID case labels to track ingredients from suppliers to restaurants via serialization.

“RFID labels transform inventory management into an automatic, digital function that optimizes restaurant operations and gives our Restaurant Support Centers access to inventory data in real-time,” notes Scott Boatwright, chief restaurant officer at Chipotle. “This integrated technology is improving our employee experience in participating restaurants while also benefiting our supply partners.”

Ingredient transparency
Chipotle indicates it has purchased more than 35 million pounds of locally grown produce in 2021 and spent more than US$400 million in food premiums over the last two years to buy responsibly sourced and humanely raised ingredients.

The brand is giving further transparency into the direct source of its ingredients. It has worked closely with the Auburn University RFID Lab to refine the pilot program, which is being tested on meat, dairy, and avocados from five Chipotle suppliers.Chipotle says it is listening and learning from employees before deciding on a system-wide rollout of RFID labels.

Ingredients in the test arrive at Chipotle restaurants affixed with RFID-enabled case labels. They are then scanned by RFID readers, which complement existing scanners in the restaurants, requiring minimal incremental investment. The tech-enabled traceability system is designed to allow the company to act on food safety and quality concerns swiftly, efficiently and precisely.  

Test and learn principle
Participating suppliers have invested in RFID technology using Chipotle specifications, which is anticipated to save suppliers time on inventory management and stock rotation, mitigate human error, and increase expiration date visibility and accountability.

Chipotle invited key supply partners to participate in the test and provided partners with an RFID playbook with the program’s best practices and benefits. The brand is leveraging its stage-gate process to test, listen and learn from employees and suppliers before deciding on a system-wide rollout of RFID labels. 

“We have been developing our RFID program for two years and see this innovation as the next evolution of traceability and food safety,” says Laurie Schalow, chief corporate affairs and food safety officer at Chipotle. “We are excited to test this innovation in the field with our suppliers and restaurants to enhance our robust traceability program.”

Industry partners
Chipotle teamed up with industry-leading RFID partners, including RFID software provider Mojix, materials science and RFID innovator Avery Dennison, and RFID reader and encoder solutions provider Zebra Technologies.

Most recently, Avery Dennison introduced a real-time carbon impact analytics tool to its digital atma.io platform, empowering brands to meet net-zero targets and reduce waste across the supply chain.