Chipotle, Panera appeal to Whole Foods crowd

Madison Times: While Whole Foods isn't often thought of as a restaurant, it has been drawing in hordes of customers hungry for its organic offerings. It leads the industry with sales of $2.64 million per store in 2005.

 

Panera and Chipotle, meanwhile, have been enjoying same-store sales growth well above the industry indexes for casual dining restaurants and traditional fast-food eateries. And that can be attributed to their embrace of natural and organic offerings.