Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), prominent in the Fresh-Mex food scene, is reasserting its dedication to offering customers large servings in their meals. As customers express disappointment over shrinking portions via social media, the company is keen on reassuring them that it will maintain its known generous servings.
"Our clients anticipate this more than ever, and our commitment to this investment underlines Chipotle's dedication to providing a great quantity of fresh, tasty food at affordable prices," said the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Brian Niccol.
Concerns over diminishing portions in Chipotle's serving sizes sparked market conversations and even instigated a Wall Street analyst to conduct an informal investigation involving the purchase and measurement of a multitude of Chipotle meals.
Niccol, in response, clarified that there was never a directive to provide less to the customers. "Large servings is a key brand equity for Chipotle-- and will continue to be," he said.
The company noted that they identified some "outlier" branches which registered lower portion scores. Accordingly, Chipotle intends to invest in training and coaching, directed to rectify the issue and improve the company's customer satisfaction scores. This action is predicted to temporarily increase expenditure.
"We don't want something that's been a positive attribute for years to suddenly be seen negatively because of some social media comments," added Chief Financial Officer Jack Hartung.