Chipotle CEO Addresses Backlash Over Portion Sizes: 'There Was Never a Directive to Provide Less' The fast-casual chain has been under fire about inconsistent portion sizes.
By Emily Rella Edited by Melissa Malamut
Key Takeaways
- Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol addressed reports of inconsistent portion sizes during a Q2 2024 earnings call on Wednesday.
- Niccol said that the company is providing training for employees at locations where portion sizes were a concern in customer satisfaction surveys.
- Chipotle reported that restaurant traffic increased over 8% in Q2.
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Your burrito bowl might be getting bigger.
After uproar from customers alleging that Chipotle was serving smaller portions, the company's CEO is addressing the concerns.
During a Q2 204 earnings call on Wednesday, Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol emphasized to investors that "generous" portion sizes are a "core brand equity" at Chipotle and the complaints are being addressed.
Related: Wells Fargo Analysts Tested 75 Bowls at Chipotle — the Portion Sizes Were Wildly Inconsistent
"There was never a directive to provide less to our customers. Generous portion is a core brand equity of Chipotle. It always has been, and it always will be," Niccol said. "With that said, getting the feedback caused us to relook at our execution across our entire system with the intention to always serve our guests delicious, fresh, custom burritos, and bulls with generous portions."
Niccol added that the company is working on retraining employees at Chipotle locations where "outlier" customer satisfaction scores were received on portion sizes to ensure that all restaurants and employees are "consistently making bowls and burritos correctly."
"Our guests expect this now more than ever, and we are committed to making this investment to reinforce that Chipotle stands for a generous amount of delicious, fresh food at fair prices for every customer visit," he said, on the call.
Chipotle reported strong quarterly earnings, with an 8.7% increase in restaurant traffic and a net income of $455.7 million, compared to $341.8 million at the same time last year.
Related: Chipotle's Robots Can Make Almost 200 Burrito Bowls an Hour
Last month, a report by a group of Wells Fargo analysts went viral after they ordered 75 burrito bowls the same way at eight different locations and found that portion sizes and weights of the bowls were wildly inconsistent.
"The portions have not gotten smaller," Niccol said during an interview with Fortune in May. "We always want to give people big portions that get them excited about the food."
Chipotle was up nearly 23% year over year as of Thursday afternoon.
