fast casual restaurants have absolutely
gotten crushed amid the corona virus
pandemic but one chain is climbing out
of the whole way more quickly than most
others we're talking about Chipotle
Mexican Grill take a look at this chart
yes it is down year-to-date
in fact I believe it's down about 12
percent year-to-date
but since the beginning of this month
since the beginning of April Chipotle
has spiked some 14 percent actually
today it's down a bit so that's more
like 12 and change percent but what is
Chipotle doing correctly let's bring him
the guy who would know Chipotle chairman
and CEO Brian nipple is joining us live
via Skype Brian good to see you many
restaurants tried the takeout route but
after just a few weeks they really
couldn't hang on
what did Capote Leigh and you guys do to
make it work yeah hi Liz thanks for
having me you know first and foremost
obviously as we got the information and
better understood the coded 19 issue we
really centered in on making sure that
our employee you say our customers would
be safe and that the Chipotle experience
could be delivered and fortunate for us
we already had a lot of food safety
practices and wellness practices in
place so we were in a good position
based on all the information reviewed
from the CDC on what we needed to
execute whether that be gloves
Darrell hand sanitizer in the front of
the restaurant the back of the
restaurant the hand-washing practices
our wellness checks where we ensured
only healthy employees we're working we
have benefits around that with eight
sick leave so we had a lot of the right
things in place and obviously we've
added to that over time in regards to
increasing assistance pay for hourly
workers and then bonuses for our
managers and field leaders and we've
delivered that as well so and then we've
upped our game on all of the food safety
practices you know we're now in the
process of getting mass for everybody so
that will be another level of health and
well-being that
people can feel confident while they
work the other thing that we did is
fortunately over the last few years
we've been investing dramatically in our
digital business and we have a separate
digital make line which allows us to
have dedicated teens with the dead
ingredient to make for those orders
coming in via the web and app what's in
ultimately people can pick up in pretty
much a contactless environment as well
as have it delivered if they want to be
contact us as well so I think a
combination of just the ability to
invest enough people intending to invest
in food safety and wellness and then
really a pivoting to our digital
business has been the driver of why we
are where we are right now you know
Brian we're all huge fans at the claim
and countdown we're always doing takeout
CMG we love Chipotle but you know one of
the things that I was really thinking
about with this company particularly
during this time is that it's a very
handsy assembly line so to speak you
know you have one person filling the
burrito bowl with the rice and then you
hand it over to the next person then the
next person in the guac what has to
change and what has changed for you all
especially considering if we're doing
the six feet away issue what do you
think after that we're through this
nightmare will permanently change about
how Chipotle does their burrito bowls
and all of their business yeah look
fortunately for us beyond just the
distancing we've already put in practice
the way we prep our food so that the you
know it's minimal amounts of people
touching the food we've also got the
practice of you know hand-washing
between tasks and also wearing gloves
during a three task at hand so when you
encounter people in the restaurant you
know their hands are washed they've got
their gloves on and you know fortunately
we'll practice the distancing so that we
can be a you know part of the solution
and do our part in not spreading the
chronic virus but we're very lucky you
know the food
is one that you know gets prepped
correctly it's cooked correctly we use
true culinary practices which allows us
to have a really safe food experience
burger custom what sign will you need
Brian to tell you now we can have dine
in we can have people sit down at the
restaurant in the future is there one
particular voice you're waiting for or
will it be a sign that you see okay now
we can reopen all these restaurants yeah
obviously we're gonna follow the
direction of the CDC and the authorities
on this you know we want to make sure
we're doing our part to provide the
Chipotle experience with people but you
know we're gonna let the experts lead us
down the path of one it makes sense to
open our dining rooms and the best way
to open those dining rooms up you know
fortunately for us a lot of our food is
prepared in such a way where you know
the burritos are packaged in the foil so
you know once you make your burrito it's
got that foil protection whether you
want to eat it in the restaurant or on
the go when we reopen the ability to eat
in the restaurant you know we'll make
sure we follow through on those
practices of you know sanitizing
cleaning really giving people confidence
and comfort to do that but we're really
going to wait for the experts to give us
the direction on why it makes sense and
what are the additional practices we
should put in place so everybody has a
great experience and we continue to do
our part in this crisis okay
I find that very newsworthy you will
wait for the CDC to issue the all-clear
correct well I think it goes hand in
hand usually the way this works at least
we've seen this happen is the CDC shares
an update and then you know the local
governments whether it's you know the
municipalities County States provide
guidance on how they believe it's the
right way to operate in their state or
their local you know locale so we're
gonna continue to follow that
and you know it's I think so far it's
been the right approach today great to
see you Brian good luck to you and the
whole team and once my kids hear about
this I'm gonna be waiting in that drive
through live Brian Nichol the CEO of
Chipotle good luck to you guys thanks so
much