If it was just 10% of restaurants skimping a little, the effect would not be nearly enough to show up on quarterly financials.
The fact that he addresses this at all, and the fact that it is big enough to show up on financials, shows that it is a significant company-wide issue. I also note the weasel word, over 10%. That could mean 100%.
My guess is the vast majority if not all of their locations were skimping, because corporate told them to. And now suddenly they realize they lost customer good will, and a lot of people just stopped going. It probably shows up in focus groups, if enough people said I used to eat Chipotle but they started skipping on portions so I don’t go there anymore, they realized they lost people. And an announcement like this is necessary because those customers aren’t going back to the store and won’t see the larger portion.
I usually get a bowl, my partner gets tacos. The tacos are a much smaller serving of food. The last time we got Chipotle, both food containers weighed about the same. We haven’t been back since, despite there being a location very close to where we live. Once before that the rice was visibly under cooked (it looks slightly more opaque). At this point it would take some “free food” coupons for me to bother with them again.
If it was just 10% of restaurants skimping a little, the effect would not be nearly enough to show up on quarterly financials. The fact that he addresses this at all, and the fact that it is big enough to show up on financials, shows that it is a significant company-wide issue. I also note the weasel word, over 10%. That could mean 100%. My guess is the vast majority if not all of their locations were skimping, because corporate told them to. And now suddenly they realize they lost customer good will, and a lot of people just stopped going. It probably shows up in focus groups, if enough people said I used to eat Chipotle but they started skipping on portions so I don’t go there anymore, they realized they lost people. And an announcement like this is necessary because those customers aren’t going back to the store and won’t see the larger portion.
I usually get a bowl, my partner gets tacos. The tacos are a much smaller serving of food. The last time we got Chipotle, both food containers weighed about the same. We haven’t been back since, despite there being a location very close to where we live. Once before that the rice was visibly under cooked (it looks slightly more opaque). At this point it would take some “free food” coupons for me to bother with them again.