Chipotle Explains Food-Safety Practices in Ad Campaign
September 21 2016 - 7:20AM
Dow Jones News
Nearly a year after two E. coli outbreaks sickened dozens of its
customers in several states, Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. still is
trying to convince people that they can trust what's in their
burritos.
In a marketing campaign beginning Wednesday, the company
proclaimed that it is tracing ingredients back to the farm,
blasting pathogens off chorizo with high-powered water jets and
requiring restaurant managers to receive food-safety
certification.
In the months after the outbreaks, which included salmonella in
Minnesota, norovirus in California and Boston, and E. coli in 14
states ranging from Oregon to Delaware, Chipotle tried to win back
customers with free burritos and a loyalty program that rewarded
repeat visits.
But sales continued to slide. Analysts began urging the company
to assure customers that its food was safe to eat. In addition to
newspaper ads Wednesday in nine major U.S. newspapers, including
The Wall Street Journal, Chipotle plans to run digital ads drawing
consumers to its website, where they can read more about the
food-safety improvements.
Some new methods that the chain tested to keep food safe
disappointed customers. When Chipotle moved the preparation of some
ingredients to central kitchens, where they could be tested for
pathogens, customers complained that the quality of the lettuce and
bell peppers declined. Chipotle executives worried that their
competitive advantage of serving fresh food swiftly was at risk,
said David Acheson, a former chief medical officer at both the U.S.
Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration whom
Chipotle hired in February to help design its food-safety
system.
The challenge, as Dr. Acheson put it: "Can we do this safely or
do we have to walk away from this?"
Dr. Acheson said he assured Chipotle's dual chief executives,
Steve Ells and Monty Moran, that new protocols could help Chipotle
keep its fresh-food pledge. Now, every ingredient from black beans
to tomatoes is being tested for pathogens at the supplier level,
where laser-scanned bar codes are attached to every shipment and
tracked as they travel from farm to distribution center to
restaurant.
Ingredients then undergo various "kill" steps to stop pathogens,
such as blanching vegetables and washing lettuce, both before
chopping it and again after. Lettuce and bell peppers are being
chopped in restaurants again. Tomatoes still are being washed and
cut in central kitchens, and sofritas and some salsas still are
made in central kitchens.
Steak still is prepared off-site using a French slow-cooking
technique called sous vide, in which meat is cooked in a
vacuum-sealed plastic bag in water at low temperature. Chipotle
says the process is safer because it cooks the meat more evenly and
the meat tastes better because it retains its moisture. Chorizo
undergoes high-pressure treatment at facilities in California and
Chicago to kill pathogens without heating it or altering its
flavor.
All 3,862 Chipotle restaurant managers are required to undergo
special training and certification in proper food-handling methods.
Restaurant workers also are taking food temperatures at different
points in the cooking process to make sure that meat is being
heated properly.
All restaurants are subject to frequent internal food-safety
audits and new quarterly external audits. Half of manager bonuses
are tied to scores from those audits. The compensation of corporate
executives isn't tied directly to food safety, but the company
explains that executive compensation is driven largely by the stock
performance, which would be affected if there is another
outbreak.
"You're never done with food safety. It's a constant
investment," Dr. Acheson said.
Chipotle hasn't disclosed how much its food-safety program will
cost.
The moves come as investors increase pressure on Chipotle to
find its feet again. Activist investor William Ackman's Pershing
Square Capital Management LP earlier this month disclosed a 9.9%
stake in Chipotle. In a filing, the firm said it would seek talks
about Chipotle's board, costs and strategic plans.
Dr. Acheson said Chipotle is committed to spending whatever it
costs to ensure that its food is safe and he has "no whiff that an
activist is changing that one scrap."
Write to Julie Jargon at julie.jargon@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 21, 2016 07:05 ET (11:05 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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