Chipotle Stock Rises After Investments In ‘Duckweed,’ Methane Reduction: Retail Cheers

Chipotle Mexican Grill ($CMG) stock rose 1.5% on Wednesday as the company announced it is making a minority investment in Plantible, a producer of plant-based protein called duckweed, with retail sentiment staying optimistic.

The investment is part of Chipotle's plan to accelerate its longer-term growth plans, which include operating 7,000 restaurants in North America.

According to a statement, Plantible has developed a "vertically integrated manufacturing platform" to produce Rubi Protein from Lemna, more commonly known as duckweed. According to the company, Rubi Protein can mimic the quality, taste, and texture of popular animal-based proteins and can replace synthetic emulsifiers and binders. 

In parallel, Chipotle is also investing in CH4 Global, a company focused on developing methane-reducing innovations. Terms of the investment weren't disclosed.

The company's flagship product, Methane Tamer, is a feed additive that leverages Asparagopsis, which helps reduce methane emissions in cattle by up to 90%.

Chipotle's investment will help CH4 Global scale production of “Methane Tamer” to meet burgeoning global demand for natural solutions to mitigate methane emissions from the world's 1.5 billion cattle, the company said.

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits turned ‘extremely bullish’ from ‘extremely bearish’ a week ago. Message volumes remained in the ‘high’ zone.

 

CMG sentiment meter and message volumes on Jan 15

"As we all work toward the goal of minimizing global greenhouse gas emissions, it's vital for us to invest in companies like CH4 Global that are engineering scalable solutions to reduce harmful global emissions," Christian Gammill, Cultivate Next Fund Manager, said. "Our investment in CH4 Global will help the team scale production of Methane Tamer™ to meet its current outstripped demand."

Chipotle has over 3,600 restaurants in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Kuwait.

CMG stock is down 4.9% year-to-date.

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