Chipotle Mexican Grill Rebounds
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Chipotle Mexican Grill Rebounds

Over the last two years, sales at Chipotle Mexican Grill have plummeted due to a highly publicized E. Coli scare and several food poisoning episodes in restaurants in Ohio, California, New York and Pennsylvania. The Center for Disease Control reported that 52 people reported having E. Coli poisoning with 92% of them claiming to have eaten at Chipotle’s within the previous week. Such health concerns chased away customers in 2015 and 2016 and damaged the company’s brand that came to be associated more with uncleanliness and careless food handling, rather than in serving healthy food as was the restaurant chain’s original plan. Sales fell dramatically and the company’s stock price was cut in half.

In 2017 Chipotle has changed all that and the health scares seem to be a thing of the past. Because of the company’s skilled marketing campaign that offers free food, new tortillas, and a kiosk and app-based digital ordering and payment systems. New menu items include a fried dessert tortilla with honey, sugar and cinnamon and apple-caramel dipping sauce. The company’s reputation and sales have rebounded nicely. The company’s stock has risen 25% this year since cratering in 2015. Sales have started to show monthly increases after declining for five consecutive quarters. In addition, the company has chosen to raise prices across the country by an average of about 5% to offset more expensive labor costs due to the current tight labor market.

The company is once again on the offensive and plans to open 210 new stores in 2017 and in the first quarter of 2017, same-store sales rose 17%, further reinforcing that a turnaround at the restaurant chain is underway.

http://www.businessinsider.com/chipotle-raises-prices-again-2017-5
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4070093-chipotle-e-coli-woods-yet