Tortilla boss: ‘No intention’ of further price rises for customers as burrito chain eyes more dark kitchens

Burrito chain Tortilla is eyeing dark kitchens in suburbia as a means to test locations before opening physical restaurants. 

Richard Morris, chief executive of the on-the-go operator, told CityA.M. that Tortilla viewed delivery as a “key part of our future.”

“We realised that in London there are opportunities to further saturate the city with Tortilla units with delivery kitchens,” Morris said. 

“With more sites, the quicker and closer you are to a postcode of consumers, you can get tastier and warmer food into the hands of customers.” 

The Mexican food chain was eyeing suburban locations to launch delivery kitchens as a way to “test the market ahead of signing off bricks and mortar units in those [areas].”

It now has five delivery kitchens, after recently opening a new site in Balham, close to its Clapham restaurant.

Tortilla opened three new delivery kitchens over the course of the year. It also opened three restaurant sites in Edinburgh, Windsor and Exeter, taking its total number of venues to 64. It hopes to open 45 new sites by the end of 2026.

In maiden results, the firm posted revenue up 79.5 per cent to a record £48.1m yesterday. This was versus £26.8m in 2020, when the company took a £10m hit on pre-pandemic sales.

While the company has raised prices by four per cent in recent months, Morris insisted that the operator had “no intention” of further price rises.

“If armageddon happens and the situation gets out of control, we will obviously have to look at it,” he added.

“We will only price to cover extra costs,” the CEO added.

Businesses have been forced to raise prices after rising cost inflation, exacerbated by war in Ukraine. 

Despite rising ingredient costs, Tortilla had been “less affected than others,” due to a “tight menu. “We don’t sell chicken breast, which has gone through the roof cost-wise, we sell thighs instead,” Morris said, as one example.

Tortilla debuted on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM market in October, after being valued at £70m.

Shares were boosted some two per cent in late night trading yesterday.