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Chipotle found itself dealing with a bit of a revolt earlier this year courtesy of customers who were convinced they were getting hosed by employees who were skimping on meat, and the company’s CEO has admitted that was indeed the case at a notable chunk of its locations.
It’s safe to say Chipotle has come a very long way since the first outpost opened up in Colorado in 1993, as the massive fast-casual Mexican chain currently boasts close to 3,500 locations around the globe and is valued at approximately $69 billion.
Chipotle managed to set itself apart by luring customers in with the promise of fresh and high-quality food as well as pretty generous portions that ensured you wouldn’t walk away hungry, but it found itself facing some scrutiny on that second front in recent years thanks to people who couldn’t help but feel like the amount of meat they received was slowly but surely shrinking even as price rose.
That belief sparked a fairly insufferable TikTok trend that led to people whipping out their phones while ordering at Chipotle due to a rumor employees had been instructed to ensure they weren’t skimping on portion sizes if they were being filmed, which eventually forced CEO Brian Niccol to assert there had never been a directive to cut down on the amount of food being served.
However, things have taken an interesting turn, as CBS News reports Niccols recently conducted an internal investigation and determined that customers were, in fact, being short-changed on the meat front at approximately 10% of its locations, adding “I want to emphasize is for 90% of our restaurants, they’re doing business as usual, but we really needed to kind of train up roughly 10% of the system.”
That would appear to confirm the results of an experiment conducted by a Wells Fargo analyst in New York City who ordered 75 bowls at eight locations to highlight the inconsistent nature of the servings, and it sounds like Chipotle will be doing what it can to address that issue moving forward.