Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) has taken minority stakes in two new businesses, Lumachain and Brassica, as part of the Newport Beach restaurant chain’s $100 million Cultivate Next venture fund.
Lumachain is a Sydney-based AI supply chain platform that tracks the origin, location, and condition of fresh produce “from farm to fork” and also monitors operations within food production plants.
Brassica is an Ohio-based fast-casual restaurant serving healthy Eastern Mediterranean-inspired cuisine.
Based in Columbus, Brassica is a fast-casual, build-your-own dining concept offering the same Eastern Mediterranean-inspired cuisine as industry leader Cava. Nate Lawton, Chipotle’s chief business development officer, said the company has six locations and plans to use the investment to open new stores and expand into new markets.
Chipotle’s investment portfolio, launched in 2022, has so far included GreenField Robotics, Hyphen, Local Line, Meati Foods, Nitricity, Vebu and Zero Acre Farms.
In midday trading, the stock was unchanged at $59.79 per share, giving it a market cap of $82 billion.
