Last week, Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol revealed that about 10% of locations were not offering adequate portion sizes, according to Forbes.
With his comments, Niccol validated some of the Chipotle-related rumors that went viral on TikTok earlier this year.
Also last week, Chipotle launched a lineup of Olympic athletes’ favorite meals, per a press release. “Team Chipotle” dishes are available exclusively online throughout the Olympics.
Chipotle on TikTok
Months ago, rumors began to circulate on TikTok that some Chipotle locations were scooping up very small portion sizes, according to Forbes. Concerned customers used their smartphones to film while employees made their orders. Some who considered their portion sizes to be too small walked out midorder.
Some customers called it a “hack” to get more food, while others took to social media to protest the alleged drop in quantity, per Forbes.
Niccol initially denied the issue in an interview with Fortune. Nevertheless, rumors continued.
Wells Fargo analyst Zachary Fadem even conducted an experiment that involved ordering 75 meals from multiple locations in New York City in an effort to survey portion sizes, per CNN.
The experiment turned up inconsistent results, even for the exact same dish.
In July, Niccol said that Chipotle had launched its own investigation, per Forbes.
“We’ve always felt the key equity of Chipotle is these generous portion sizes, so we wanted to make sure we’re executing consistently across the system,” he said. “And we’ve probably found about 10% or more of restaurants that we really view as outliers that needed to be retrained, re-coached to be executing against what we believe are the right standards.”
He said that, at the other 90% of restaurants, they will continue to do business as usual.
What Olympians are eating at Chipotle
On Thursday, Chipotle rolled out a “Team Chipotle” dish lineup.
It features the favorite orders of five Olympic athletes, per a press release. The meals are available on the Chipotle app and website for a limited time.
- Anthony Edwards Bowl: This Olympic basketball player’s favorite dish is a half-chicken, half-steak bowl loaded with brown rice, salsa and lettuce.
- Sophia Smith Burrito: Olympic soccer player Sophia Smith’s burrito includes chicken, brown rice, pinto beans, salsa, sour cream and cheese.
- Taylor Fritz Bowl: Olympic tennis player Taylor Fritz favors a bowl with double chicken, white rice, sour cream, cheese and guacamole.
- Sara Hughes Burrito: This Olympic beach volleyball player’s favorite Chipotle meal is a burrito filled with double steak, white rice, black beans, cheese and lettuce.
- Jagger Eaton Burrito: This Olympic skateboarder’s favorite order is a burrito loaded with chicken, white rice, black beans, salsa, cheese, guacamole and lettuce.
Chipotle has also shared exclusive, behind-the-scenes content on each athlete’s training regimens, per the press release.
“Every one of our Team Chipotle athletes has had a unique journey,” said Chipotle’s chief brand officer Chris Brandt. “By highlighting their stories and how Chipotle has been a key component of their training regimens, we hope to inspire and fuel the next generation of great American athletes.”
In honor of the Olympics, Chipotle introduced gold foil-wrapped burritos at participating locations in the United States and France. These limited-time wrappers call to mind Olympic gold medals.