CEO: Chipotle is “back but just getting started”
By Surya Zeeb
Published: August 2, 2019
Category: Non-GMO News, The Organic & Non-GMO Report Newsletter
Popular non-GMO burrito chain won’t use popular meat substitutes
After suffering several setbacks due to food safety issues, Chipotle Mexican Grill is back and stronger than ever according to company CEO Brian Niccol. While Chipotle is growing strong, Niccol said his company won’t be using popular meat alternatives from Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods because they are too processed and don’t fit with Chipotle’s commitment to fewer ingredients.
Chipotle exceeded Wall Street’s second quarter sales and earnings expectations with sales increasing 13 percent from the prior year to $1.43 billion, aided by an incredible 99 percent surge in online ordering.
The strong performance completes Chipotle’s comeback from food safety incidents in 2015 and 2016 that caused the company’s stock price to plunge, not to mention its public image.
“We are back, but we feel like we are only just getting started,” Niccol told Yahoo Finance.
Since 2015, Chipotle has committed to sourcing all non-GMO ingredients for the foods served in its restaurants. The company also purchases some organic ingredients.
Meanwhile, Niccol said that meat substitutes from Beyond Meat, Inc. and Impossible Foods, Inc. are too processed for the burrito chain, which touts its simple food and a menu that uses only 51 ingredients.
“We have spoken to those folks and unfortunately it wouldn’t fit in our ‘food with integrity’ principles because of the processing, as I understand it, that it takes to make a plant taste like a burger,” Niccol said in an interview with Bloomberg News. “If there’s a way for them to do this that would match our ‘food with integrity’ principles, I’m sure we would continue talking with them.”
Sources: Bloomberg News, Yahoo News
To view original article visit: https://www.mysanantonio.com/business/article/No-Beyond-Burrito-Chipotle-s-CEO-Says-Faux-14119444.php
