Chipotle Proves Eating Real Food Is As Easy As "A-B-C" At The 2019 National Scripps Spelling Bee

Chipotle stops at the Bee to spell out the difference between its real ingredients and competitor's complex ones

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May 30, 2019, 08:00 ET

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., May 30, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) today announced its participation at the 2019 Scripps National Spelling Bee with its very own spelling bee: Chipotle Bee, For Real.

Chipotle stops at the Bee to spell out the difference between its real ingredients and competitor’s complex ones.

Hosted by Justin Howard, Chipotle Bee, For Real took place on a specially-created stage and featured Chipotle's 51 ingredients. Chipotle invited spellers to tackle one complex ingredient found at other restaurants, and one simple, real ingredient found at Chipotle. The competitor list included words like carrageenan, dimethylpolysiloxane and lecithin. Chipotle's list included avocado, beef and cheese.

"Chipotle only uses real ingredients in its kitchens, and those ingredients tend to be simple to pronounce and easy to spell," said Chris Brandt, Chief Marketing Officer of Chipotle. "However, other restaurants frequently use artificial or processed ingredients and preservatives that are often much more difficult to spell and say, so we highlighted this difference in a unique way at the Scripps National Spelling Bee."

"Our spellers have voracious appetites for words and good food, and they were thrilled to have a chance on the Chipotle stage," said Valerie Miller, Communications Manager for the Bee. "We are also passionate about Chipotle's mission of cultivating a better world, which we aim to achieve through the pursuit of education."

Chipotle Bee, For Real incorporated 102 words which were complete with special pronunciation guidelines, definitions, origins and uses in a sentence. Spellers that were up for the challenge received prizes including exclusive Chipotle Bee pins, Chipotle Bee foil notebooks and Chipotle gift cards.

Chipotle's presence at the Bee is consistent with its Behind the Foil campaign that launched this year. Behind the Foil focused on the transparency of Chipotle's kitchens by featuring real employees cooking real food from real ingredients. This year's national finalists can attest that eating real to cultivate a better world is as easy as it sounds.

ABOUT CHIPOTLE
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG) is cultivating a better world by serving responsibly sourced, classically-cooked, real food with wholesome ingredients without artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. Chipotle had approximately 2,500 restaurants as of March 31, 2019, in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Germany and is the only restaurant company of its size that owns and operates all its restaurants. With more than 70,000 employees passionate about providing a great guest experience, Chipotle is a longtime leader and innovator in the food industry. Chipotle is committed to making its food more accessible to everyone while continuing to be a brand with a demonstrated purpose as it leads the way in digital, technology and sustainable business practices. Steve Ells, founder and Executive Chairman, first opened Chipotle with a single restaurant in Denver, Colorado in 1993. For more information or to place an order online, visit WWW.CHIPOTLE.COM.

ABOUT THE SCRIPPS NATIONAL SPELLING BEE
The Scripps National Spelling Bee is the nation's largest and longest-running educational program. The purpose of the Scripps National Spelling Bee is to help students improve their spelling, increase their vocabularies, learn concepts and develop correct English usage that will help them all their lives. Visit spellingbee.com for more information about the Scripps National Spelling Bee, which is administered on a not-for-profit basis by The E.W. Scripps Company.

SOURCE Chipotle Mexican Grill