Chipotle reveals $50 million plan to make bigger bowls after viral demand

Chipotle has responded to customers’ demands regarding portion sizes, and are investing a substantial amount of money to give consumers what they’ve been asking for. 

Throughout the past year, we’ve witnessed several viral videos circulating TikTok of Chipotle customers inventing ‘hacks’ to get bigger portion sizes from the chain as they claimed the portions were getting smaller.

One of these hacks that went viral involved people entering Chipotle, and filming their servers in the hope that they give ‘proper’ portion sizes if they know they are on camera.

There was even a study conducted to analyze the size of the burrito bowls, where Wells Fargo analyst Zachary Fadem and his team bought and weighed 75 burrito bowls.

The study found that the heaviest bowl weighed 47% more than the lightest. The weight varied even more substantially in digital orders, with the heaviest bowl weighing 87% more than the lightest. They concluded that there was a disparity between portion sizes. 

Now, Chipotle has taken note of customer feedback and is planning to increase the portion sizes offered by stores. 

According to Brian Niccol, the company’s CEO, 10% of Chipotle’s 3,500 restaurants are outliers in their portion sizes.

To fix this, the chains offering deficient portion sizes will receive further training to make sure the correct portion sizes are met. This could potentially cost the company $50 million. 

Despite this, Niccol revealed: “Generous portion is a core brand equity of Chipotle. It always has been, and it always will be.”

Chief financial officer of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Jack Hartung told Bloomberg that with this new incentive, each customer should receive two substantial scoops of rice and four ounces of meat.

Chipotle has also been going viral for a particular protein option that they use in their burritos called barbacoa, but it turns out that most people don’t actually know what it is.