As a peace offering to inconvenienced customers, Chipotle said it would give free burritos to people who text in a code to the company.
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The company-wide meeting follows reports of E. coli in OR and Washington in November that temporarily closed 43 locations, which have since reopened, and an outbreak of norovirus among Boston College students in December, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Employees got their first look at the chain’s new food safety procedures when the restaurants delayed their opening until 3 p.m. As a result, workers are no longer chopping tomatoes in the restaurants, co-CEO Monty Moran said at the meeting.
Jefferson County Environmental Health Program manager Bruce Braden said Chipotle’s proactive measures to improve food safety with its employees is a good move.
“I’m hopeful that the CDC will call this over soon”, Ells said.
Customers can text the word “raincheck” to 888-222 and the company will send you a SMS coupon for a free burrito within the next few days. “The food that we eat, it’s got to be checked as much as possible”, said Yohannes Almah, a frequent Chipotle customer.
Other companies hit by food scares have taken about a year or more to recover, Chipotle executives note.
Chipotle has insisted that it can regain its sales and margins, with a marketing pitch aimed at luring customers back to its restaurants slated to kick off this month. “It kinda ruins my plans for lunch today”, Ritter said.
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At Monday’s meeting, via satellite, Chipotle’s founders announced to their staff the company is committing up to $10 million to help its local growers get their produce and meat up to Chipotle’s new, firmer safety standards. But they say their situation may differ because it involves more than one incident, and they received intense exposure in social and mass media. Let us know in the comments.
