If you’re a fan of burrito giant Chipotle, you’ll just have to find another food establishment to get your fix on Monday, February 8.
Because all U.S stores will be shutting shop briefly for a staff meeting.
The Denver-based company will be shutting its doors for a few hours next month to hold staff meetings about food safety.
In a bold move, the Chipotle Mexican Grill will be closing all of its U.S stores for a company-wide summit in an attempt to eliminate the E.coli outbreak that has been plaguing the fast food chain since October.
Luckily for us Canadians, no stores North of the States have been affected by food illness and will not be closing on February 8.
Last month in Boston over 120 college students were sickened with a norovirus episode, and in the last few months dozens of cases have been reported of Chipotle customers being taken down by E.coli in nine U.S states – some of whom are suing the chain.
Sales have dropped by 30 per cent and stock is drastically down following the outbreak.
Honourable though it may be to take steps to re-brand and rebuild their reputation, those of us unaware of the brand’s recent E.coli drama have now been given a handy recap of their woes.
Also, if they’re not closing between now and February 8 to take stock of their health and safety practices, what’s happening with their hygiene standards until then?
Just because they’re working hard to change their ways doesn’t change the fact that I’m pretty grossed out by this new knowledge they’ve brought to my attention.
The company certainly can’t expect to get customers back on board overnight. They say that time is the greatest healer, and the quicker Chipotle allows the dust to settle to let people move on from this health and safety nightmare, the better chance they have of recovering from the scandal.
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