Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol is swapping his usual burrito bowl and quesadilla for cold brew with cream and pumpkin spice lattes, following Starbucks’ surprise announcement Tuesday that Niccol was the coffee giant’s new CEO, replacing Laxman Narasimhan.
Having held executive positions at Taco Bell and Pizza Hut parent Yum! Brands before joining Chipotle, Niccol is no stranger to the fast-food industry. Since taking over as Chipotle’s CEO in 2018, he’s spearheaded the Mexican-inspired chain’s massive turnaround, helping it shake off its E. coli crisis and embrace a new identity as a food-centric fast-food empire, even setting an ambitious goal of doubling its restaurant count to more than 7,000 locations in the U.S.
Starbucks needs the boost Niccol gave Chipotle. As the coffee chain’s fourth CEO in just two years, Niccol will inherit a struggling empire that’s struggling to woo inflation-weary customers. Amid declining sales and customers abandoning online orders due to congested stores, Starbucks also faces pressure from investors to put strong leadership in place. Chief Financial Officer Rachel Ruggeri will replace Narasimhan as interim CEO until Niccol takes over on Sept. 9.
Fortunately for Starbucks, Niccol, a 30-year veteran of the food retail business, is used to taking over locations that need renovation.
The master of mash-up
Mexican-style fast food was a comfort zone for Niccol, who served as CEO of Yum! Brands’ Taco Bell from 2015 to 2018 before joining Chipotle. It was there that he helped Frankenstein Taco Bell create its now-favourite Doritos Locos tacos and limited-time Cap’n Crunch doughnut mix. He also designed the chain’s “Live Más” ad campaign and pioneered its mobile ordering app.
But before he became the architect of Taco Bell’s viral creations, Niccol was an engineer at the University of Miami. He took a marketing class that piqued his interest more than his initial engineering background. Niccol racked up credits in economics and business before graduating in 1996 and joining Procter & Gamble as a brand manager for Scope mouthwash and then as an associate marketing manager.
After nearly a decade with the company, Niccol joined Yum! Brands in 2005, where he rose from vice president to chief marketing officer of Pizza Hut and Taco Bell to eventually lead the Mexican-inspired chain.
Chipotle’s transformation
When Niccol took over as Chipotle’s CEO in 2018, the fast-food chain was dealing with the aftermath of an E. coli outbreak that hospitalized 20 customers. As if the crisis wasn’t bad enough, Chipotle’s reputation was damaged by defensive marketing campaigns about its food safety practices and cascading discounts and promotions. Niccol refocused the company’s efforts, dropping its promotions and showing restraint by refusing to participate in the breakfast wars, where fast-food chains were pouring so much effort into expanding their menus and hours.
Instead, Niccol has encouraged a Chipotle-style culinary approach. He has helped educate store staff about seasonal ingredients and emphasized the chef role of the chain’s workers and the spectacle of customers watching them prepare food. Chipotle has pivoted to online ordering and experimented with automation and limited-time novelties like garlic guajillo steak and chicken al pastor that harken back to Niccol’s days at Taco Bell.
Even though Niccol will leave Chipotle in better shape than he inherited it, the chain will continue to face sensitive customers, who have raised concerns about the quantity of food and the consistency of portions as the restaurant’s prices continue to rise.
“We always want to offer people large portions that make them interested in food,” he said. Fortune this spring. “If you want to double the amount of meat, you have to pay for it, but our goal is to get people excited about what I think is really delicious food.”
