Chipotle. We all know this age-old story: what so quickly became the rising star of quick-service restaurants fell from grace in 2015 after a slew of restaurant closings due to an E.coli outbreak. Yikes.
While the outbreak made a lot of people sick, it was even more damaging for the company’s reputation. Chipotle prides and markets itself as the provider of high-quality fast food, with only the best ingredients — but this issue got many wondering if that’s just a bunch of B.S.
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When all this went down, Chipotle’s stock prices fell drastically — and have stayed there. You can see in the stock chart that as soon as 2015 rolled around and the bad PR days were an everyday thing, it was all down hill and Chipotle really hasn’t recovered in terms of market valuation since.
Chipotle has definitely tried to recover in the public eye by vowing to DNA test its produce and continually update their food safety procedures, but it seems to be to little, too late for the once shining star of the restaurant industry. Chipotle has even tried bringing in new menu items like chorizo (in 2016, which it’s since ditched) and most recently, queso.
I think it’s a bit naïve to say that queso will save Chipotle, but it’s an extremely popular menu item that I see a lot of people in line opting for. Personally, a literal cup of melted cheese is not my cup of tea, not do I think it helps the image of authenticity Chipotle is trying to portray. But hey, if it helps business, power to them.
Many are now speculating about what Chipotle is going to do next, whether it be go out of business entirely or sell to a larger company. If it were up to me, I’d strongly prefer the latter, the only hope for us burrito bowl bitches because can you imagine a world without Chipotle? No, thanks.
Click here for ways to hack Chipotle’s now queso-filled menu.