Are your Chipotle Burritos getting smaller? Many fans think so, too! But now, you can put your worries at ease because Chipotle heard you, and they’ve got a solution for that.
Chipotle Mexican Grill ensures that their guests get generous serving sizes of their food after they found out that 10 to 15% of their restaurants were getting comments on portion sizes. The management aims to “double down” on workers training to ensure that workers are putting in the right amount of consistency: Two generous scoops of rice and four ounces of beef meat for generous portions.
Chief Financial Officer Jack Hartung of Chipotle, said that he instructed the employees that if they are unsure whether to go a little more or a little less, they must choose to go a little more on portions. Isn’t that great news for us?
Also, in a recent coverage by the New York Times with Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol, he shut down rumors about the management sending directives to restaurants to provide less. He added that generous food portions have always been the core brand equity of Chipotle. We definitely see that now from their efforts to equalize food portions!
Hartung, however, pointed out that he anticipates “margin pressure” from the efforts to adjust portion sizes. This is partly due to seasonal factors and increased protein costs, as Chipotle transitions from a high-margin chicken promotion to a brisket offer, along with rising avocado and dairy prices. Trust Securities analyst Jake Bartlett, however, believes this issue is not expected to be long-term.
While all of these portion efforts are being made, we don’t need to worry, as Chipotle won’t increase their prices any time soon, at least for this year. We can expect fair prices with a generous amount of food!
The Reason Behind Chipotle’s Portion Splurge
Aside from Chipotle’s customer dissatisfaction rating, they’ve been making rounds on social media in the recent weeks, specifically TikTok, about their portion sizes. They’ve been infamous for skimping out on their food, with people saying that some of them aren’t worth the money they spend anymore.
A food analyst named Keith Lee took to his frustration in a TikTok video saying that, in his opinion, Chipotle has not been hitting the same anymore. He ordered quesadillas, a Chicken Al Pastor burrito bowls, and tacos. He soon realized that his bowl had less chicken and wasn’t as tasty as before since it lacked spice. He also said how some food are freezing cold.
Following this, people started leaving one-star reviews and walking out if they saw that their orders had a small portion. Others said that people need to completely boycott the chain since their portions and prices aren’t worth it anymore.
Last month, a Wells Fargo analyst purchased 75 identical burrito bowls from various Chipotle locations throughout New York City. The analyst discovered significant variation in portion sizes, with the largest bowl being nearly twice as heavy as the smallest one.
With all of this being said, the burrito chain management took notice of this and decided to work on it by studying their dissatisfaction rate to come up with a plan of equalizing portions according to the standards that they set.
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What’s The Buzz Around Chipotle?
Hot waters surrounded Chipotle last month, but on July 27, they reported a high revenue increase of 18.2% in the second quarter of 2024, with Niccol saying that their brand marketing, along with the release of their Chicken Al Pastor, has contributed to the growth. Now that they can start fixing their brand image again by listening to their consumers, higher results and strong demand are expected of them for full-year outlook.
Along with that, Chipotle is also working on releasing more menu items to serve their guests better. Check out some of their exciting new offering in store for their guests.
New Healthier and Greener Beverages
Recently, Chipotle also rolled out new ready-to-drink beverage additions from Poppi, Open Water, and Coke Zero, aiming for healthier options and a greener future along with their fresh food. Poppi is a prebiotic soda brand that combines fruit juice and prebiotics to create a health-friendly soda. On the other hand, Open Water is a brand offering aluminum bottled water options as it aims to reduce the usage of plastic bottles in restaurants.
Exclusive Digital Menu
As the world cheers for their countries, Chipotle is doing their part to show that they are for Team USA. Chipotle will be releasing an exclusive digital menu specializing in the nutrition requirements of athletes who will be competing in the Olympics.
The meals included in the lineup are:
- The Anthony Edwards Bowl – Chicken and steak with brown rice, roasted chili-corn salsa, and lettuce.
- The Sophia Smith Burrito – A burrito wrapped with brown rice, chicken, pinto beans, red chili salsa, tomato salsa, cheese, and sour cream.
- The Taylor Fritz Bowl – Double portions of chicken, white rice, cheese, sour cream, and guacamole.
- The Sara Hughes Burrito – Double portions of steak, white rice, cheese, black beans, and lettuce.
- The Jagger Eaton Burrito – A burrito wrapped with tender chicken, white rice, black beans, roasted chili-corn salsa, red-chili salsa, guacamole, cheese, and lettuce.
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From The Club
The criticism of portion sizes at Chipotle serves as a lesson to other fast-food restaurants. Although the “shrinkflation” can likely take place, it is important for a fast-food restaurant to work on what they can do to not shrink the quality or portion of their food. I admire Chipotle for listening to their customers by acknowledging them and trying to serve them better. They took those satisfaction surveys seriously and did what they could do. I hope all the restaurants are like them!
Original coverage from Bloomberg and The New York Times