Innovation

Based on their 2021 Sustainability Report, Chipotle is seeking to make an impact in three main categories: food and animals, people, and environment.

Food and Animals (SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production)

Each Chipotle location prides themselves in having quality ingredients, all of which you can pronounce. They put their ingredients through rigorous testing standards, and track them all the way back to their source. They also have a commitment to getting ingredients from young farmers, because this demographic is implementing more sustainable farming practices. They also created a TV spot that aired during Super Bowl LV called “Can a Burrito Change the World” that highlighted the impact their “Food with Integrity” standards could have on the world, including reducing carbon emissions, saving water, and supporting local farmers.

People (SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being)

Chipotle provides many employee benefits, including an Employee Assistance Program, educational assistance, and healthcare. The educational assistance program is specifically important because Chipotle hires many younger individuals currently pursuing a college degree or who have plans to. It is a “life-changing policy” that heavily benefits these employees and gives them a chance to cultivate knowledge and further promote Chipotle’s goal of cultivating a better world. There is also an open door policy for employees to talk to the managers, and frequent check-ins to assess if there is anything that needs to be adjusted in order to make a better work environment.

Environment (SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production)

Chipotle is committed to managing their waste sustainability through recycling and compost programs. They also donate products that previously went to waste. There has also been a decrease in the automatic hand-out of utensils, reducing the amount of overall waste created by each location. In the stores, there are climate systems that regulate energy levels at a comfortable and sustainable atmospheric level.

Inspiration

The idea to push Chipotle into these progressive business practices arose out of a demand from consumers to hold big businesses accountable for their role in sustainability. Through the trials and tribulations of recent memory such as the Covid-19 pandemic, top level management at Chipotle took note of the struggles of their employees and their customers with fast action in response. CEO Brian Nicholl stated the following about his pride in the company’s sustainability goals, “We continue to identify opportunities to innovate, expand upon our mission and create meaningful change at scale. I am optimistic about our future and look forward to delivering on our aggressive goals.”

Through focusing on three separate sustainability segments (Food/Animals, People, and Environment), Chipotle aimed to create focused and achievable goals. Inspiration for a higher emphasis on sustainable food and ingredient practices has spawned from past scandals within the company about the contents of their ingredients, a higher support for more natural and healthy ingredients, and a higher demand for better wages for farmers. Inspiration for a higher emphasis on sustainable business practices towards their employees arose from the struggles associated financially and emotionally with the Covid-19 pandemic and a subsequent demand for better treatment of minimum wage workers societally. Finally, the inspiration for a higher emphasis being placed on environmentally sustainable practices spawned from outcry from the scientific community about the dangers of climate change and the unsustainable practices of our modern world.

Now, these issues cannot be solved solely by Chipotle, however it’s clear that the company is doing their part in documenting the changes that they have made to be more sustainable. Through publishing a detailed sustainability report yearly to implement these changes directly in their stores, we have been able to see that the company not only was inspired to become more sustainable but that the impact is there.

Overall impact

So, exactly what impact has been made by Chipotle’s changes to their business practices? Through our interview and through our research, our findings suggest real changes have been made by the company. First, let’s discuss their first sustainability goal that is focused on food and animals. In our interview, store manager Yesenia Huerta described in detail the rigorous testing standards and the detailed tracking of their ingredients and their supply chain. She also described how the company trains employees on the importance of ingredient inspection and how to identify a quality ingredient. This is backed up by their sustainability report, which mentions such accomplishments as grading an “A” on the 2021 Chain Reaction VI Beef Scorecard and winning other awards for ingredient quality such as Fast Casual’s Excellence in Food Safety Award and World Animal Protection’s Gold Tier among others. The sustainability report also provided us with a direct supply chain map to show how each ingredient is traced directly back to its natural source of either the animal or the plant in which it came from.

Next, we have the impact of the company’s employee sustainability goals. In our interview with Yesenia Huerta, she discussed how Chipotle’s commitment to educational assistance has helped her coworkers, especially considering how many are actively pursuing college degrees. As a woman in a position of leadership, she also prides herself on setting an example to her employees by making herself available through an open door policy and frequent check-ins and also understanding the importance of managerial empathy. She feels that her team responds well to these practices and knows that they can see her personal commitment to them. As a company, Chipotle has won numerous awards from Bloomberg, Forbes, Fortune, and Newsweek, among others on their employment practices citing successes in diversity, gender equality, career growth, human rights, and company culture. Chipotle hourly employees also see good benefits including healthcare, educational assistance, training programs, employee assistance programs, parental leave, retirement support, and paid time off. The company did see increases in employee turnover in 2021, but that is certainly due to the pandemic and should see a return to normalcy this year. The company also prides itself on its charitable work including successful initiatives such as over $6 million being raised through RoundUp for Real Change, over 500,000 meals being donated to those in need, over 300,000 pounds of paraphernalia for disaster relief being donated, and so much more.

Finally, Chipotle’s environmental sustainability goals have seen more great impact. Yesenia Huerta described to us the emphasis her store places on environmentally sustainable practices such as utilizing recycling programs, climate systems that manage energy levels, and the reduction of automatically handing out plastic cutlery and straws. The company has won multiple awards for its environmental practices including awards for innovation and being named FoodBeast’s Top Climate Friendly Fast Food Chain. The company’s sustainability report details all of their emissions broken down into three scopes, which has become of a high importance in today’s environmentally conscious climate. Company wide, they have also seen a 12.7% decrease in its utility use through some of the systems that Yesenia Huerta described such as the climate control system and automatic lighting.

Business benefit

So why would all these innovations benefit the company? For one, because they locally source all their ingredients from small farms, they create strong connections to their partners and support smaller businesses. Connection to people is one of Chipotle’s main goals and to be able to create meaningful relationships is something that the company is always striving for. Chipotle also puts their ingredients through rigorous testing to ensure that whatever they put on the menu is safe and is easily traceable back to the source of its origin. Not only that, but by managing their waste to improve sustainability will improve overall waste mitigation the company has to pay off.

Social and environmental benefit

How do these innovations help our society and environment? Because Chipotle’s ingredients are easily readable and transparent, consumers know what they are getting out of their meals so they won’t have to second guess themselves. Plus, the company’s “One Burrito Can Change the World” campaign helps highlight Chipotle working with small businesses to locally source their ingredients and reduce carbon emissions. Chipotle also is helping reduce and mitigate waste by recycling their utensils and donating product to local shelters that would have originally gone to waste. All of these efforts are ways the company is not only serving the consumers, but also serving the world by being a business that puts emphasis on sustainability and responsible consumption.

Interview

Yesenia Huerta, Store Manager