This afternoon, 162 students are taking part in an entrepreneurial experiment, hoping to receive a rarity on the Bowdoin campus: Chipotle burritos.
“I’m going to be placing a mass order for over 100 Bowdoin students and I’m going to drive down to Chipotle [Mexican Grill] in Portland and come back to school and deliver them throughout the campus,” said Sam Silverman ’14, the man behind “Chipotle Friday.”
Silverman said the idea initially came from a discussion he had with a friend while he was studying abroad.
“We were like ‘Yeah, Chipotle is pretty far away, but people really love it so maybe we could do a Chipotle Friday.’ I’ve heard Colby does a similar thing.”
Silverman’s business plan is straightforward: take orders from Bowdoin students on the “Chipotle Friday” Facebook page, place the order with Chipotle, pick up the burritos, and deliver them with help from about ten other people. He places a $2.50 surcharge on each order, not including tips for his delivery assistants.
“Chipotle Friday” has been so popular that Silverman had to stop taking orders by Wednesday night. It has been most popular among first years.
“I know that people love Chipotle so I thought it could be pretty popular but I couldn’t imagine it being quite this big,” said Silverman. “Like 50 percent of the orders are from freshmen—this has definitely become a freshman phenomenon.”
According to Silverman, the staff of Chipotle in Portland is excited about his project.
“They’re totally cool with it—they’re happy it’s bringing a ton of business for them that they wouldn’t otherwise have,” said Silverman.”
Despite the fact that Silverman will be delivering so many burritos, he doesn’t plan on having one for himself.
“I’m a fan of Chipotle…[but] I’m probably not even going to get anything—there’s just so many burritos that I’m handling.”
As for the orders, only one seems to stand out for Silverman.
“Someone ordered a double tortilla which I’ve never heard of on a burrito—it’s craziness.”