Chipotle Mexican Grill

It all began in 1993, where the first Chipotle was opened at a former Dolly Madison ice cream location in Colorado. Now there are more than 15000 restaurants open worldwide. Chipotle is a fast-food restaurant that serves Mexican food that is derived from all natural sources. Chipotle does not only keep the animals in mind, but also the farmers and the environment. It serves burritos, burrito bowls, chips, crispy tacos, soft tacos, and a variety of different vegetables and toppings. Chipotle, in my opinion revolutionized the way restaurants are structured now. The menu is not complicated and very simple, meaning it does not have a large variety of different dishes, but they give the customer the ability to customize and create each dish the way the customers like. Chipotle’s mission statement is as follows, “Food with integrity is our commitment to finding the very best ingredients raised with respect for the animals, the environment and the farmers.” This statement not only defines their mission, but also expresses their ethics. Their main goal is to provide food with integrity. What is food with integrity? Food with integrity comes from reliable sources that treat the food with the utmost care. In today’s environment, because of mass production, a lot of the food that is offered either comes from different types of places without the knowledge of what it has been through. For example, in the recent past, the problem with pink slime, which is an additive to ground beef and other beef processed meats and is exposed to either ammonia gas or citric acid to kill bacteria. ABC News did news reports about the product and uncovered that 70 percent of ground beef sold in the United States contained this. Chipotle’s food is unlike its competitors, they use meat from animals that are raised without the use of antibiotics or hormones. How Chipotle implements the next part of their mission statement, “raised with respect for the animals”, the animals of which Chipotle receives its meat from are naturally raised, meaning that they are raised in a humane environment, fed a vegetarian diet, never given hormones and are allowed to display their natural tendencies. As far as the respect to the environment, beans and other vegetables sold at Chipotle are organic. And finally, when they say respect to the farmers, they source meat locally preferably from family farms and also vegetables when they are in season.
This mission statement is perfect length while it accurately provides the information that it is trying to convey, without losing the meaning of what they are trying to get across. Although, this statement narrowly focuses on their food process and does not state any customer service goals the company should strive for. Therefore I think their mission statement should be, Food with integrity is our commitment to finding the very best ingredients raised with respect for the animals, the environment and the farmers while providing excellence to customer needs. Focusing more on their online ordering needs can attain excellence to consumers. The bottleneck of Chipotle is the long line that forms through out the day, which can lead to consumers to pick an alternate venue or, grow impatient in the line. This can be avoided by simply ordering online and not have to wait. Chipotle’s mission statement is not only directed towards consumers but also towards investors and farmers. This mission statement is geared towards consumers by assuring them that the quality of their food does not have to be sacrificed just because they are fast food. They do not add additional hormones or antibiotics in any of their products. How this mission statement is directed towards investors is they can see the opportunity of an all-natural fast food chain that satisfies the needs of the up and coming natural consumers. And how this statement is aimed at farmers is by supporting the farming community by increasing the demand for local grown meat and vegetables. Therefore, small farms that naturally grow crop and cattle can reach out to Chipotle and help them with their vision while helping themselves by staying afloat. The mission statement does contain reference to ethics, focusing more on moral opposed to business ethics. The morality in statement comes from how they treat their animals, environment, and farmers with respect. I do believe the mission statement should include a reference to its ethical standards. It is important for not only consumers, but also investors to know what the company’s standpoint are regarding their ethical dealings. Chipotle goes one step further in regards to their ethical integrity by stating if an all-natural supply was not used. it will be explicitly stated to the consumers. Since supply for all natural meat without the use of hormones or antibiotics can be limited at times, they maintain the trust of the consumers by acting with integrity.
Chipotle does a good job explaining their ethics in their mission statement, but they also include their ethical standards in their website. Their whole website is cultivated around the ethical practices used by Chipotle. The ethical standards addressed in the company’s website are not isolated in their mission statement, but also are included in specific sections of their website. These sections include pictures, videos, and testimonials of involved personnel in Chipotle’s process from producer to consumer. The company’s ethical standards should be shown in detailed form on their website because the main source to acquire information about a company today is through their website. A disadvantage of a company displaying its ethical standards is allowing competing companies to mimic their strategy. Something Chipotle does well in their website is they minimize the use of text, and increase the use of pictures and videos to get their point across. This appeals greatly to the technology age, which are the consumers of today.

Works Cited

http://www.chipotle.com/en-us/fwi/fwi.aspx -- October 6, 2013

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/03/is-pink-slime-in-the-beef-at-your-grocery-store/ -- October 6, 2013