Happy Friday! The best AI-generated picture… wasn't generated with AI. A photographer won the top prize in an AI contest with a real picture to show the ethical issues around the tech.
In today's big story, we're looking at Chipotle's newest pitch in the big business that is winning your lunch break.
What's on deck:
But first, let's grab lunch.
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One of the most interesting battles in business is taking place on your lunch break.
Back to the office means the return of the age-old question: What's for lunch?
The fight to be the answer to that question is a valuable one. Market research firm Future Markets Insights pegged the lunch takeout market at $215.3 billion in 2022.
Chipotle's latest marketing campaign shows how creative restaurants are getting to nab your lunch order. The fast-casual chain knows where its bread is buttered burrito is wrapped, advertising a limited-time meal targeted at young, male office workers.
The Chipotle Boy Bowl has double chicken, white rice, black beans, mild salsa, corn, sour cream, cheese, guacamole, and lettuce, in a nod to the gym and finance bros who frequent the chain. (Truly knowing their audience would have been touting the "macros" — carb, protein, and fat stats — of the dish, but I digress.)
The newest addition to the menu could have been a mea culpa by Chipotle. In recent years, the chain has faced criticism over what some customers say is a drop in quality coupled with rising prices.
That culminated last month in popular food influencer and former Chipotle collaborator Keith Lee complaining about the chain's portion sizes.
Still, Chipotle's stock, which is preparing for a historic 50-for-1 split next week, has persevered. Its share price is up more than 43% this year.
But the competition to be your go-to lunch spot is fierce.
A newcomer to the public markets has come on particularly strong. Fellow fast-casual chain Cava, often viewed as a Mediterranean Chipotle, has been on a tear since it went public last June. This year its share price is up more than 125%.
And that's not even tops in the sector. Sweetgreen, which went public in 2021, is up roughly 165% this year. It also has an eye toward the future with the launch of a robot-driven location in Illinois last year.
But other lunch options haven't enjoyed as much success. Yum! Brands — home to KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell — is up less than 4% this year. And Restaurant Brands, which includes Tim Hortons, Burger King, and Popeyes, is down more than 10%.
Even the granddaddy of them all — McDonald's — is having a slog. Its share price is down more than 14% as customers criticize its new value meal, and it struggles to integrate AI into its workflow.
But the real threat to chains isn't each other: it's consumers' kitchens. Rising prices have led some to brown paper bag it.
The Insider Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Jordan Parker Erb, editor, in New York. Hallam Bullock, senior editor, in London. George Glover, reporter, in London. Annie Smith, associate producer, in London. Amanda Yen, fellow, in New York.