In the Battle for Best Fast Casual Mexican Restaurant, Moe's Southwest Grill Surpasses Chipotle in Latest Poll

Harris Poll measures knowledge, opinions, behavior and motivation of the general public

SPONSOREDUpdated 1:13PM • 04/21/16

It's been a tough year for Chipotle as Moe's Southwest Grill has continued to gain market share against its competition. And the latest news from Fast Casual only furthers this conclusion after Moe's was named Brand of the Year, Fast Casual Mexican Restaurant, in the Harris Poll's 28th EquiTrend Rankings.

The Harris Poll is one of the longest running surveys measuring public opinion in the U.S. The poll measures the knowledge, opinions, behaviors and motivations of the general public. This year, more than 97,000 consumers evaluated more than 3,800 brands in nearly 500 categories.

"Consumers form impressions of brands long before they ever use them, based on their perceptions and what they may know from trusted sources," said Joan Sinopoli, vice president of brand solutions at Nielsen, which owns The Harris Poll.

Since Chipotle's E.coli outbreak in October 2015, public perception of the brand has been down and sales have dipped because of it. The study from The Harris Poll showed Moe's had one of the largest brand equity increases (+13 percent) over a three-year period.

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