Article content
Chipotle’s CEO has denied that the restaurant’s portion sizes have shrunk and offered an odd suggestion for customers who feel slighted about their orders.
Brian Niccol told Fortune this week that the restaurant — whose net sales rose 14.1 per cent to $2.7 billion in its latest quarterly report — makes “big burritos, big bowls” despite online claims that the portion sizes have shrunk.
Article content
Niccol then offered a tip for customers who “want a little more” rice or pico in a TikTok video shared by Fortune that has been viewed nearly 15 million times.
“All you got to do is, kinda, like,” he says, before trailing off and making a head nodding motion.
Recommended from Editorial
The video has received more than 33,000 comments, with many poking fun at the head nod. Niccol also added that if customers want extra meat in their order, they have to pay for it.
“I did that little ‘head nod’ today and I swear I got even less food,” one commentator wrote.
The video arrives after popular TikTok food critic Keith Lee posted his own video last month, claiming that “portions been crazy low” at the chain restaurant.
Lee added that he “used to love Chipotle,” but “something changed.”
Lee is not the only person to claim the restaurant’s portions have shrunk. The perception is so widespread that other social media users have begun employing their own hack, which involves pulling out their phones while their food is being prepared to ensure the restaurant doesn’t skimp on the order.
Article content
In another TikTok video, a Chipotle customer claims workers at the restaurant gave each other a “look” when he pulled out his phone and then gave him “the biggest servings I have ever seen in years.”
In a statement to Forbes, Chipotle, which has 41 restaurants in Canada, said its portion sizes have not changed and employees have not received “instructions regarding (customer’s) filming.”
“There have been no changes in our portion sizes, and we have reinforced proper portioning with our employees,” Laurie Schalow, chief corporate affairs and food safety officer at Chipotle, told Forbes.
Shrinkflation, meanwhile, which is the practice of reducing product sizes while maintaining prices, has become prevalent in Canada, with rising costs for manufacturers often cited as the driving force.
Factors such as increased shipping rates, labour costs and raw material prices have all contributed according to experts, while awareness has spread due to social media.
Canadian food policy expert Sylvain Charlebois recently told the Calgary Herald that shrinkflation is not new, but something that is cyclical.
“We go through cycles and really it boils down to input costs for companies and manufacturers,” he said. “If costs go up, they (manufacturers) tend to look at different options like shrinkflation.”
Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our newsletters here.
Share this article in your social network
