Topline
Chipotle’s CEO confirmed at least 10% of its locations were skimping on portion sizes after the company previously denied the claim, which had gone viral on social media, causing some customers to film workers making their food and leaving mid-order if the offerings looked too small.
Key Facts
Following allegations Chipotle had decreased its food portion sizes, customers began walking into stores, filming workers making their order and then walking out mid-order if the portions seemed small, which then sparked rumors online that employees were instructed to give larger portion sizes to customers who filmed them.
This Chipotle “hack” has gone viral on social media, with some customers claiming they did get more food while recording, and Chipotle told Forbes the company “did not issue instructions regarding filming.”
Chipotle even poked fun at this supposed hack, posting a TikTok video of people standing at a Chipotle counter with their phones out, with the caption “POV u work at Chipotle rn.”
Laurie Schalow, chief corporate affairs and food safety officer at Chipotle, told Forbes in May “there have been no changes in our portion sizes, and we have reinforced proper portioning with our employees.”
Schalow also said customers have the option of customizing their orders and telling employees if they want more, or less of a food item, though the company charges between $3.65 and $5.40 for extra protein.
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News Peg
Chipotle’s CEO Brian Niccol said during an earning’s call Wednesday the company looked into portion sizes after the topic blew up on social media, CBS News reports. “[W]e’ve always felt the key equity of Chipotle is these generous portion sizes, so we wanted to make sure we’re executing consistently across the system,” he said. “And we’ve probably found about 10% or more of restaurants that we really view as outliers that needed to be retrained, re-coached to be executing against what we believe are the right standards.” Niccol said fixing portion sizes at these outlier stores will win some of Chipotle’s customers back, but emphasized for the other 90%, “they’re doing business as usual.”
How Keith Lee Sparked The Viral Chipotle Criticism
The complaints started after TikTok food critic Keith Lee posted a Chipotle food review in early May—that has over 16.5 million views—where he complained about a lack of chicken in his burrito bowl, saying the “portions been crazy low.” Lee reviewed three Chipotle food items: chicken tacos, a chicken burrito bowl and a steak quesadilla, which he previously went viral for. Though he rated the tacos the highest at an eight out of 10, he gave the burrito bowl a two out of 10 and the quesadilla a 2.5 out of 10. Lee has ranked Chipotle in the past: After posting a viral video of a Chipotle quesadilla hack in 2022, where he added fajita veggies to his order, Chipotle released the “Keithadilla,” and allowed customers to also add fajita veggies to their quesadillas, which wasn’t previously allowed. In his original review, Lee gave the Keithadilla a 10 out of 10, but he gave the quesadilla a 2.5 out of 10 in his most recent review, saying “something changed” with the food quality. He also added he “used to love Chipotle,” but the food does “not hit the same.”
Key Background
In a video posted to TikTok after Lee’s video, Niccol told Fortune the chain’s portion sizes haven’t gotten smaller. Niccol claimed Chipotle makes “big burritos, big bowls,” and if “you want a little more rice or you want a little more pico, all you got to do is, kinda, like,” and made a head nod motion. Creators have made videos joking about the head nod: One video with almost 4 million views shows a creator—using a greenscreen image of a Chipotle store—attempting the head nod to get more rice before getting frustrated and yelling out “more!” Another TikToker did a reenactment—which has over 14 million views—of Niccol’s video, exaggerating the head nod, and adding “if they’re still not picking up on it, then you just,” and proceeded to jokingly ball up her fist.
Tangent
Earlier this month, Chipotle reported its share price—up 44% year-to-date—hit an all-time high, and the company had a market capitalization of $89 billion. Other fast casual restaurants like Sweetgreen, Cava and Wingstop have seen similar growth, something TD Cowen analyst Andrew M. Charles told Forbes was the latest evidence of the “strong fast casual backdrop.” Investors are reportedly moving away from traditional fast food restaurants like McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Burger King—which have all been in the red this year—to these fast casual options. This may be due to the fact that some fast food brands’ prices have consistently increased since 2021, reportedly leading customers to either eat at home, or seek out dine-in options for a better value.
Wall Street Loves Lunch Stocks: Why These Fast Casual Chains Are Outperforming Nvidia (Forbes)
Claims About Chili’s Shutting Down Are ‘Misinformation,’ Company Says (Forbes)
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