The Millennial Crisis : Love / Hate With Chipotle E Coli

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.

The actions taken by Chipotle after the E.coli outbreak can be seen as both exacerbating the problem and finding ways to resolve the problem. However, as the crisis began, leadership coming from CEO Steve Ells and Co-CEO Monty Moran painted a picture of denial. One of the first decisions made in reaction the crisis was to purchase full-paid advertisements. This marketing tactic was done to mask the severity of the e-coli outbreak, sooth investors, and retain loyal customers. In addition to television advertisements, Chipotle decided to advertise using direct mail (Wahba, 2016). This practice does not correlate with traditional chipotle advertising; their last paid advertisement was in 2012. Chipotle has always operated in a fashion that let

Chipotle, ever the noble ambassadors of good burrito will, have been humble and cooperative throughout the investigation. Health officials are giving the company kind words and gold stars (despite, you know, the salmonella). One spokesperson for the department of health said that “Chipotle has been extremely proactive in collaborating with investigators to quickly control the outbreak and identify its source.” Another asserted the Health Department’s confidence that it is now safe to eat at Chipotle, sharing that he had a burrito bowl there last Wednesday.

If you are not aware of the recent food poisoning incident with Chipotle, then clearly you have been taking some time off from the internet. An outbreak occurred from Chipotle in which more than 40 people became ill with E. coli. Chipotle has been in hot water since this, and it makes us realize that not all food is safe. With this in mind, the idea of other dangerous foods, outside of Chipotle, should be addressed.

After interviewing 59 of the people they reported eating at a Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurant in at least 19 different restaurant locations. The patients were found to be infected with a strain of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O26 (STEC O26) (CDC, 2016). But then at the height of this outbreak, at least 120 people who ate at a Boston Chipotle contracted norovirus (Malcolm, 2016). This additional outbreak provided even more complexity to the investigation’s attempt to identify the disease cluster.

Chipotle makes sure that the plants animals are being treated right and are not fed GMOs. Years ago, the carnitas (pork) was removed from restaurants because the animals were not treated right. Our fruits and vegetables are washed and blanched, to remove germs and other harmful bacteria. Our foods and vegetables are hand cut to a certain style. We focus more over quality than with quantity but quantity is still our main concern. We did have a summer rewards program (it was just a test drive. It will be back soon) and we have a few coupons such as the Buy One, Get One Free coupon and the One Free Chorizo coupon. At Chipotle, were always thinking of the customer’s health? From our utensils to our foods, everything has a certain temperature. To make sure that everything is to temperature, we fill out “the Black Book” which is a book that records the temperatures of the foods on the front line, the grill, and the walk-in fridge. These get done periodically throughout the day. Other than temperatures, we have portion sizes to help with your health. Some people may not agree with the portion sizes but portion sizes are here for two reasons; to save food and to not fill you up on so much

One of Chipotle’s significant core competencies is to offer premium quality food at a low cost. In 2003 to 2004 Chipotle decided to obtain locally grown produce and meat from farms with high animal welfare standards. Farmers who followed the guidelines set forth by the Department of Agriculture’s were Chipotle’s priority suppliers to fulfill their “Food with Integrity” campaign. Providing a close business relationship with these farmers has enabled both Chipotle and the farmers to have a competitive advantage over their competition. Chipotle has found their customers appreciate a restaurant with strong food ethics. Chipotle is currently leading the way for fast-casual dining especially since the trend in North America is for better healthier ingredients.

In 2001 Chipotle adopted the slogan “food with integrity” to describe its approach to sourcing and preparing ingredients (Merkel and Russell, 2017). Chipotle states: Ensuring that all of our fresh ingredients are as safe as possible is a serious effort. Not only do we need to work closely with our suppliers to ensure that the ingredients we buy are safe, but we also need to make sure that once those ingredients reach our restaurants, they are handled and prepared in the safest way possible. Chipotle’s CFO said: “We like the local program, we think it’s important, but with what’s just happened we have to make sure food safety is absolutely our highest priority. If it’s testing and safety versus taking a step backward on local, we would do that

Chipotle is facing numerous challenges due to the fact that E. coli outbreak which requires the corporation from the key stakeholders to keep it under control and apply the new food safety protocols which can aid to bring the regular customers back. Although the main cause remains a mystery, Chipotle’s E. coli outbreak has been authoritatively declared officially over by the experts. However, since the poisoning outbreak, the impact of the reduced number of customers affects the profit which the company used to enjoy before such eventuality (Scholes 27).

Chipotle could have not foreseen the turn of events in their stores and could not have possibly predicted the outcome. The social factor is uncontrollable and can at any moment shift an industry’s source of success. Chipotle was once widely known for serving healthy, fresh dishes to their customers. However, when the outbreak spread from city to city, Chipotle was at serious risk. As a result of the outbreak, people are in fear and are second guessing whether it is worth eating at Chipotle’s again. Many of Chipotle’s customers did not feel safe to go back. Chipotle’s impression and reputation changed for many customers. Chipotle’s spokesman, Chris Arnold, reports, “Because we will probably never know for sure what caused this… we have taken significant measures to improve safety,” (Arnold B6). Even after the chaos, Chipotle still stands strong in the hope to revive their business to its former glory (Jargon, Jessie B6). The chain has taken significant measures to ensure a cleaner and safer environment for any individual that enters their doors. The cause of the outbreak is a mystery and this uncontrollable factor has greatly affected the hearts of many. Chipotle is pushing their way into the first stage of recovery and is stressing that their restaurant is no longer a threat to its

Changes in customer preferences, general economic conditions, discretionary spending priorities, demographic trends, traffic patterns and the type, number and location of competing restaurants have a moderate effect on the restaurant industry (Chipotle, 2010). One example of customer preferences being a driver in the industry is the “Whole Food-ism Movement” which has put a large focus on organic, antibiotic-free, and non-processed foods (Mansolillo, 2007). Consumers now look for healthier options when eating and an overall healthier lifestyle. Chipotle has been able to benefit from this movement by carrying on their “Food with Integrity” mission (Chipotle, 2010).

Management is the backbone of any good company. In order for a company to successful, a strong management team is needed in order to meet goals in an effective and efficient manner. Chipotle opened its doors in 1993 when Steve Ells took a chance and began his business in San Francisco. Chipotle is a chain of Mexican restaurants that is based in Denver. Chipotle is often cited as the company that started the fast casual movement where customers can get a healthy prepared meal quicker than other traditional styled restaurant. The fast casual restaurant concept was well received and Chipotle’s popularity expanded all across the United States. Customers could not get enough of the Mexican chain and massive lines could be seen stretching outside the stores all across the country. Along with its popular food, Chipotle Mexican Style Grill is a company that contains a successful management style. Why? What sets this companies management apart from the rest? There are many factors that we could analyze to understand the success of Chipotle, yet for the purpose of this paper, we will look into the cooperate culture of the company, human resource management, their leadership style, and how Chipotle deals with and how the company manages in times of crisis.

Over the last decade, Chipotle is one of the fastest-growing restaurant chains. The company’s commitment to serve fresh food using only natural and organic ingredients, supports local family farms and sources sustainable ingredients from local growers. Chipotle competes against the big fast-food chains, such as McDonald’s and Denny’s. Chipotle found its “Enthusiast” customers by focusing on social media to tell its story. Today, it has over 1.7 million social media fans, yet spends next to nothing on traditional paid media. Because Chipotle is a fast food and less expensive, it also appeals to the “Savvy Shopper” who wants to enjoy fresh food at a bargain price.

The usual incubation period is 2 to 5 days, although it can be as short as several hours. Severe cholera is characterized by a sudden onset of profuse, watery diarrhea accompanied by nausea and vomiting. If left untreated, this can rapidly lead to serious dehydration, electrolyte imbalance and circulatory collapse. Over 50% of the most severe cases die within a few hours; with prompt, effective treatment,

As of late 2015 and early 2016, Chipotle Mexican Grill faced a serious problem with food safety and received an ethical backlash because of it. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) along with state and local officials investigated two cases of E. coli O26 infection outbreaks from food served by Chipotle restaurants in several states