Chipotle's Downfall

Chipotle ventured into a new territory when it was created, as it had an innovative vision for fast-casual restaurants. By using fresh and quality ingredients, Chipotle raised the bar in their segment. The service line where customers could see their order being prepared enhanced the experience of Chipotle. Consumers who were used to eating at fast-casual restaurants where the food was frozen and made out of sight were able to savor the uniqueness of Chipotle. These differences helped Chipotle become successful. However, as competitors copy the traits that make Chipotle unique, Chipotle must adapt and overcome in order to remain a profitable company.

Ask any person on the street what is the one issue that consumes more than half of the nation and the answers will vary from cancer to the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. Most Americans are blind to the modern day plague that consumes even the nation's youth. What is this black death that promises health complications in the future, obesity affects more than two-thirds of American adults and one-third of American children. The term obesity is defined as the condition of being grossly fat or overweight. The “American diet” of processed foods is the root of the problem. The nation's health conditions have declined since the 1970’s and reached an all time low in the early 2000’s. The solution lies within the 18-27 year olds of the country

Childhood obesity is not just an issue in United States- it is an growing epidemic. Obesity epidemic in kids has increased by alarming rate just in last few decades. Nearly one in every five child is obese in the United States. If the pattern of obesity continued on most of America’s children will be living with diabetes, heart disease, and dying young due to obesity. The American Heart Association reported this year that childhood obesity is the top health concern among parents in the United States, beating out smoking and drug abuse. My own younger siblings suffer with child obesity. Their craving for fast food and very limited physical activity has made them overweight and currently they suffer from health problems. Is this the future of our young generation? How much contribution should a parent have in their child’s diet? Fast food has taken over American diet and it has lead to poor nutritional diet among American youth. Fast food companies spend billion of dollars every year on commercials, convincing youth to love and eat their product. It’s just not our eating habits that has lead our young generation into obesity, lack of physical workout has also played a major role in obesity epidemic. TV, computer, video games and other technology entertainment has contributed to children getting no exercise. Obesity in children can put them in high risks of developing chronic and serious illness. Unhealthy weight leads to having weaker lungs, poor blood quality, heart

The new generation continues to increasingly fall under obesity’s evil spell. Although many Americans recognize that their children are obese, they fail to accept that this is an epidemic that should be controlled and given dramatic attention to. Research suggests that childhood obesity in the United States has doubled in the past decade. Despite the fact that we have necessary resources to control these statistics, Americans continue to expose their youngsters to unhealthy and fattening meals. It is no joke that America is the fattest nation in the world. Thus, preventing this serious issue should be perceived as a life-or-death situation where if we fail to control it, many more overweight children will grow up to be obese adults in the future.

Educating the parents of today’s youth. Critser administers the solution by declaring the parents as the enablers to this rising epidemic. Critser attempts to educate parents by displaying an example of two age groups of children. He uses an examination done by Pennsylvania State University of three-year-olds and five-year-olds and describes how their eating habits differed. From the two age groups, Critser develops a hypothesis due to the fact that the three-year-old age group did not continue to eat when they were satisfied with their portion, while the five-year-old age group devoured the food until their plate was clean. This experiment confirmed that the children responded according to the diets their parents have continuously displayed upon them. In a case of overweight 6- to 12-year-olds, when persistently taught about restraint of food and diets, up to 30% were no longer considered obese. This, alone, exhibits the importance of educating today’s parents so they will deliver their knowledge of obesity, and how to prevent obesity, to their

In 2012 CDC statistics show that “over 35 percent of adults and 32 percent of children in the United States of America are recorded as obese (30kg/m2), the obesity rate has doubled since 1971.1” Not only is epidemic growing in numbers of victims but also in expenses. The United States spent 147 billion dollars in 2008 on medical expenses costs and that does not include the programs that fight against the problem. “In 2003 over 300,000 died due to obesity related health problems, diseases and cancers.6” One of the most important battles we wage on American soil is the war for citizens to be fit, and it nearly always starts in the childhood. Since 1971 the problem of childhood and adult obesity started to grow annually due to many reasons related to our ways of living. Now the food industry, including fast food has been getting more and more unhealthy due to unnatural modifications. What Americans eat is not organic anymore and is taking its toll on American lifestyle. The fast food industry has been making advertisements and foods focused upon youth. Since the original commercials directed towards children, it has nearly tripled since the rise of technology. Technology has been growing rapidly as obesity is, statistics show that with the advancement of technology, the population starts to slow down, stop exercising and eating healthier foods. As long as there is childhood obesity, there will be adult obesity, with effects on children causing obesity, there will be a

Today’s children are at risk to be the first generation in the modern era to have a life expectancy less than that of their parents (Lemonick, 3). This is because of obesity. In the last thirty years, the rate of obesity among adolescents in the United States has quadrupled, and the anatomical health repercussions are being felt (“A Comparison” 16). Ailments like heart disease and diabetes, that have a direct correlation with obesity, are all on the rise. The issue within society is that few people recognize that obesity is the root of these problems (Ward-Smith, 242). For this reason, Americans have allowed themselves to create a lifestyle where obesity will continue to exist. With a fast paced culture that demands results instantly, society

From a consumer aspect, I agree that there is a huge issue with obesity in America; which involves adults and young children. Author of “The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food”, Michael Moss argued “Today, one in three adults is considered clinically obese, along with one in five kids, and 24 Americans are afflicted by type 2 diabetes, often caused by poor diet, with another 79 million people have pre-diabetes” (477). This information scared me because it is amazing how much Americas are suffering of poor diet. As a parent this

In the ted talk “Teach every child about food”, speaker Jamie Oliver, talks about the unhealthy eating habits of children all across America. He comes straight out by telling us the present generation of kids are implemented with 10 years of less life expectancy than their parents. The main focus of the talk is directed towards bad health and how it leads to the state of obesity, which is considered a global issue. Oliver gives a solid statement regarding his talk, “ Obesity costs you Americans 10 percent of your health-care bills, 150 billion dollars a year.” Furthermore, he visualizes his proof with a chart stating heart disease to be the number one cause of deaths in America, which is nearly 30 percent. To wrap up his presentation, Oliver makes a final statement that he envisions a food revolt, in his own words “ to educate every child about food and to inspire families to cook at home again.

Chipotle inappropriately handled this crisis because CEO Steve Ells and Co-CEO Monty Moran blamed the Center for Disease Control and the media for exaggerating the outbreak. Creating a public perception of Chipotle’s board members who did not showcase a clear motive for public health safety. After the E. coli outbreak, Moran made statements to Chipotle’s investors at an industry conference: “The media likes to write sensational headlines, you’ll probably see, you know, when somebody sneezes, Ah, it’s E. coli from Chipotle” (Colvin, 2015). Moran made another statement on Twitter ‘saying’ “CDC is working in an unorthodox way” (Wohl, 2015). Moran’s arrogant comments reflected a quality of an unconcerned CEO in the eyes of the public. In one of

“This might be the first generation where kids are dying at a younger age than their parents and it’s related primarily to the obesity problem” (Judy Davis). Obesity in America has been a rising issue in the last few years. There have been a lot of different predications on to why the number is rising so much in American people. The food that people are eating and the lack of physical activity has a lot to do with this big rise. People aren’t exercising as much as they use to and the food surrounding the people in America isn’t as good as it used to be either. More and more food places go up every day and it isn’t good for the people in society. Fast food industries are the leading cause of obesity in America today. Reasons are fast food

Many individuals do not realize it, but obesity has become a huge epidemic in today’s society. Individuals tend to ignore the growing unhealthy products around them; instead of questioning why people are gaining weight so rapidly, they enjoy the unhealthy and unsuitable substances that they are putting in their body. Some eat whatever they can find, and since they are in a certain predicaments, they have no choice but, end up doing the same thing to their children. Many have not seen it yet, but parents are feeding their children unhealthy substances. The nutrients that they are feeding them are unhealthy, and since children do not know any better, they cannot disagree with what is being provided to them, nor can they tell whether they have had enough or not. In an article “Too Much of a Good Thing” by Greg Critser. He explains how parents are partially to blame for their children 's obesity and also their children 's environments. Critser uses statistic, biological experiments, and comparisons show how child obesity has become a great problem in today’s society and that parents have much to do with it.

Community involvement: Chipotle has become an active part in the communities by sponsoring community events such as Cultivate and fundraisers for local high school activities. In developing the supply chain network Chipotle purchases organic ingredients from local farmers, working to find great fresh ingredients

Steve Ells is the founder and CEO of Chipotle. Steve is a trained chef and opened his first Chipotle store in 1993 at a former Dolly Madison ice cream store in Denver, Colorado. His goal was to serve high quality, delicious food quickly and in a “fast-casual” setting (Ells).

The fast-paced lifestyle of Americans today results in unhealthy frozen T.V. dinners and take-out meals. In present day society, the role of woman and men are virtually equal. With this making both the mother and father of families busy, there is little time for home cooked meals. A hardy breakfast is replaced with sugary pop-tarts, hand packed lunches is replaced with money for fast food, and frozen T.V. trays take the place of a healthy dinner. These foods may all taste good, but they are not healthy. By giving children lunch money, the children are having the choice to buy whatever foods they please. It could be easily assumed that a child would choose a candy bar, chips, and a soda over a school lunch. Again, the children are not the only ones to be blamed here. The parents need to take time to guide their children towards what food is healthy and what food is unhealthy. By taking a little more time out of the day and making healthier food choices, the rate of childhood obesity could slow down, if not stop altogether.