Chipotle to Double Locally Grown Produce This Year
June 24, 2011—Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) says it will double its use of locally grown produce this year.
The national restaurant chain says it will increase from 5 million to 10 million pounds the amount of fruits and vegetables grown within 350 miles of the restaurants where it is served.
Chipotle has approximately 1,100 restaurants nationwide, and it is the only national chain with a significant commitment to serving locally grown produce.
The company began serving locally grown produce in its restaurants in 2008, and has been working to increase its local produce supply each year since beginning the program.
“While sourcing produce locally can be difficult — particularly in regions with short growing seasons — we continue to find like-minded suppliers to allow us to serve this better food,” says Steve Ells, founder, chairman and co-CEO of Chipotle.
For many regions across the country, locally grown produce is available for a relatively short time (approximately June through October), while in other regions (like California), the growing season is considerably longer, even year-round.
According to author Michael Pollan, the average food item in America travels 1,500 miles from farm to table – a practice that undermines regional food security and causes tremendous greenhouse gas emissions associated with shipping.
Chipotle says it works with family owned farms whenever possible to provide bell peppers, jalapenos, oregano, red onions and romaine lettuce for its restaurants. In California, the company also sources locally grown lemons, cilantro and avocados, and it gets tomatoes locally in California and Florida.
Beyond its use of local produce, Chipotle also serves more naturally raised meat than any other restaurant company, organically grown beans (40% in 2011), and all of its cheese and sour cream is made with milk from cows that are never given the synthetic hormone rBGH (recombinant bovine growth hormone).
Additionally, Chipotle is rapidly increasing the percentage of pasture-raised dairy, and expects that all of its dairy will reach this standard within a year. Chipotle calls its commitment to better ingredients from more sustainable sources “Food with Integrity.”
Although finding sustainable sources for food in each region can be difficult, Ellis says, “The more consumers understand the benefits of eating food from more sustainable sources, the more they’re going to expect it from everyone.”
