There’s an exciting new menu item available at Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG), and it’s lighting a fire under investors already. Chipotle is up in Tuesday afternoon trading, and it all seems to be thanks to one thing: chicken al pastor.
The chicken part is fairly normal, aside from its increasing rarity in the face of bird flu and the resultant herd culling that’s cost the United States around 58 million chickens as of February. Rather, it’s the “al pastor” part that’s drawing such attention. The al pastor comes with a special marinade for the chicken, using Chipotle’s own adobo, along with morita peppers, pineapple, lime, cilantro, and achiote for that orange color.
Chipotle also has the further advantage of offering food items that can’t be readily duplicated by home chefs. Like Chipotle’s chief marketing officer, Chris Brandt, noted: “Guests are looking to restaurants for unique menu items they cannot make at home, and al pastor has been gaining mass appeal in recent years.”
Speaking of mass appeal, that’s pretty much what Chipotle has with Wall Street, as it is currently rated a Strong Buy by analyst consensus. Further, Chipotle stock enjoys 17.07% upside potential thanks to its average price target of $1,850.71 per share.
