Chipotle CEO makes food safety top priority
Chipotle is looking to put food-borne illness scares behind them, the leader of the fast-casual chain told FOX Business on Monday.
“We have over 70,000 employees that run all of our restaurants and really, the first place I wanted to spend some time, was getting into the restaurants to understand the whole process for how we end up with just delicious food,” Brian Niccol told Liz Claman during an exclusive interview on "Countdown to the Closing Bell."
Niccol, who previously ran Taco Bell, took the reins of Chipotle in March when he replaced co-founder and executive chairman Steve Ells, who stepped down as CEO last year after food safety scares forced some of Chipotle’s restaurants to shut down temporarily.
Niccol believes that the quality of Chipotle’s food will help consumers put the E. coli outbreak in the rearview mirror.
“We’re increasing our communication around our purpose, which is cultivating a better world, and then I think we’re clearly communicating these ingredients are fresh, they’re cooked with classic cooking techniques and then you end up with just a delicious experience,” he said.
The multiple illness outbreaks have weighed heavily on the company’s stock price in recent years, but it has since recovered under Niccol’s leadership. Chipotle reported strong second-quarter earnings, as the company’s revenue lifted 8.3% to $1.27 billion.