I never eat at Chipotle, but I have been following them for a long time. The thesis of this blog post is that Chipotle is doing a bang up job in evolving into a COVID19 casual food world.
But, they have had a lifetime of experience with food-borne illnesses and outbreaks.
Bad stuff, ugh
Chipotle might have been its own worst enemy as its strategy was based on the use of fresh produce, fresh meats (never frozen), and locally sourced products cooked in a more traditional manner rather than automated processes that “ensure” food safety. Some of their problems were fundamental — employees washing hands.
Anyway, they had a very spotty track record:
March 2008, hepatitis outbreak in San Diego County infected 22 customers
April 2008, norovirus incident in Kent, Ohio hit 400 customers
February 2009, an outbreak of campylobacteriosis in Apple Valley, Minnesota caused by undercooked chicken
July 2015, E Coli infection of 5 people in Seattle
August 2015, norovirus in Simi Valley, California that hit 80 customers and 18 employees — later inflated to 207 victims. This resulted in a criminal investigation and a lawsuit.
August 2015, salmonella in 17 (later raised to 24) Minneapolis area stores that impacted 64 persons
October 2015, E Coli infection in Washington and Oregon which spawned the closure of 43 stores and 12 hospitalizations
November 2015, E Coli hit two Chipotles in Kansas and Oklahoma
December 2015, norovirus hit 80 Boston College students growing to a total of 141
July 2017, norovirus hit Virginia infecting more than 130 persons
July 2018, clostridium perfringens outbreak hit 368 customers in Powell, Ohio which grew to more than 700 persons
As you can imagine, this body of data hit their stock price. They had gone public in January 2006 at $22/share and ended the first day of trading with their stock at $42.20/share — the second best such performance ever (Boston Market was better).
So what happened, Big Red Car?
Things got so bad, they replaced their founder/CEO Steve Ells with a new guy, Brian Niccol — Chicago Booth School of Business grad. Booth is a very good school.
Niccol had been, most recently, the head of Taco Bell (7,363 total stores 2020 — Chipotle has 2,600 stores).
This change took place in February 2018 and Niccol went right to work. First, the guy knew what he was doing and what he was doing was GOING DIGITAL.
Until Brian took over the stock was down 60%.
What did Brian do, Big Red Car?
Brian came to the game with a dedication to move Chipotle toward a more hip, woke, digital store.
He did the following:
1. Began to equip Chipotle stores with drive-in lanes, something few casual dining joints did, but de rigueur for fast food joints like Taco Bell
2. Reworked the Chipotle app
3. Upgraded the rewards program
4. Jumped into the middle of delivery with DoorDash, UberEats, and free delivery
5. Ran the drive-in lanes as on site pickup — mobile ordering, mobile pickup
These things — many of which were underway when he arrived, led Chipotle to post some very impressive numbers for Q1.
1. In spite of last week March sales dipping 35%, the chain posted a 3% same-store sales increase
2. Digital sales jumped 81% — the digital message is sinking in and thriving
3. In March alone, digital sales were 100% higher than last March
4. Rewards program has more than 11,500,000 members. In April, signups are already 400% higher. This is clearly the COVID19 pushback.
Stock chart, Big Red Car?
Take a look at this stock price chart for Chipotle. 
Bottom line it, Big Red Car
OK, the bottom line is this, dear readers, Chipotle has weathered a storm since it had its earlier issues. They replaced their CEO with a digital vet.
The new guy got them ready to go and they are well positioned to win in a post COVID19 world.
But, hey, what the Hell do I really know anyway? I’m just a Big Red Car. Be well. Chipotle?