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Chipotle Closed: E. Coli To Blame For Today’s Shutdown

By Thomas Kuegler
Published on: 01:38 PST, Feb 8, 2016

Chipotle is closed today due to an E. Coli outbreak that spread across the restaurants locations just recently. To clarify, all Chipotle locations will be closed from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.. However, Chipotle will reopen again after 3 p.m.

The Sun Times in Chicago reports that the E. Coli outbreak resulted in 500 people getting sick, with the cause of the outbreak still unknown, raising the question of what exactly the company plans to do during those four hours that stores will be closed.

“We’re having a national employee meeting today, February 8th, to thank everybody for their hard work through this difficult time, discuss recent food safety changes we’ve already deployed, and talk about additional steps we’re taking for the future,” Chipotle wrote.

Will Chipotle reopen again with the problem solved? Will they just go over the safety precautions one more time? The problem seems to stem from something other than everyday activities in the restaurant since the E. Coli outbreak happened in more locations than one.

“We have implemented unprecedented food safety standards with our suppliers, which make the food coming into our restaurants safer than ever before,” said Steve Ells, founder of Chipotle.

The steps that Chipotle has taken so far are honorable, but will this really do anything to curb worries about the quality of the food?

Sebastian Buck at the Guardian contemplates Chipotle’s history and closing, writing, “From its first restaurant in 1993, Chipotle stood for high quality, fresh ingredients cooked in-house, and later a vocal champion of ethically-sourced food. ”

An E. Coli outbreak would hurt any restaurant’s image, but Chipotle has been more adament than most about the freshness and quality of their food–so when they ran into some controversy over the safety of their food, it betrayed trust with loyal consumers on a deeper level.

This controversy has lead Chipotle to make a difficult decision. Buck writes, “Chipotle has a choice between sticking to its core values and leadership position in the fast food industry, or retreating to a more mainstream food sourcing model and a crisis mode of obfuscation and platitudes.”

In the end, consumers want to know that the Chipotle E. Coli outbreak won’t happen again, and with an absent marketing budget despite Chipotle’s sky-high stock price, it might be time for the restaurant to consider putting out a few advertisements to quiet the public.

Starbucks faced a similar dilemma eight years ago.

“Chipotle needs to follow strong communication with ongoing, meaningful actions that continue to demonstrate its values. Starbucks in 2008 provides a relevant parallel: when Howard Schultz returned after eight years out of the CEO role, he faced declining sales, depressed stock, a diminished brand and demoralized staff. The steps he took to return Starbucks to its leadership position were remarkably successful – the stock now trades above $60 from around $4 in 2008.”

How did Schultz achieve this turnaround? By getting back to the core values. Buck states “He took action to live up to these principles by retraining staff, enhancing ethical sourcing practices, improving the menu, investing in the stores, extending health care and education benefits to workers, creating a web platform to listen to customers and programs supporting job creation and veteran affairs.”

Could Chipotle follow in Starbucks’ footsteps? Chipotle is closed today, and yes it’s due to E. Coli, but the company can bounce back by returning to its values and implementing a few marketing initiatives.

[Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images]

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