Yes, Chipotle Is As Popular As It Seems -- Mexican-Style Chain Sees 26% Jump In Sales

Yes, Chipotle is as popular as it seems.

The Mexican-style fast food chain just saw their second quarter sales jump by 26 percent compared to the same time last year and the company is on pace to sell nearly $7 billion worth of burritos and tacos by 2018. At the same time, McDonalds reported a 1.5 percent decrease in U.S. sales.

"We are really proud of the numbers," said Jack Hartung, Chief Financial Officer at Chipotle Mexican Grill, in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Thursday. "Our managers and our crews have done a great job."

Chipotle sales are expected to reach nearly $4 billion by the end of 2014. Chipotle has a market value of about $18 billion. In the first quarter of the year, Chipotle sales grew by 13.4 percent despite the fact that the company raised prices for the first time in three years in April. Since the company went public in 2006, the company has seen 377 percent growth, according to the Washington Post.

"We did raise prices during the quarter but we only got a partial effect," Hartung said. "Most of the comp is from additional transactions either additional customers, or new customers coming to Chipotle or existing customers coming more often."

When the stock market closed on Monday, Chipotle had a market value of more than $18 billion, according to Fox Business.com. That was twice as much Burger King Worldwide, but still significantly less than former owner McDonald's Corp, with its market value of more than $96 billion.

Chipotle is known for serving antibiotic-free meats and organic produce and have successfully banked on the notion that customers would be willing to pay a little bit more for their fast food if they knew where their food was safely coming from. Despite the rising costs of ingredients like beef, avocados and dairy, the company is confident they won't be raising prices again in 2015.

"We want to source high quality food but remain accessible, we know if we become too expensive only some people can enjoy Chipotle,” Hartung said. “And we want everyone to come."

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