Kate Taylor‘s blog on Chipotle mentioned it is the first GMO free national chain yet still uses some GMO ingredients. So I dug in a little deeper, where I read about Chipotle’s E.coli scandal and the past history of being spun off by McDonald’s.
While Kate implicitly projected that Chipotle has the potential of growth as the pioneer in the GMO-free fast casual chain market, I believe in the complete opposite. I can see Chipotle is facing a downhill and it might not get recovered ever again. The E.coli scandal has drastically affected its brand image, hence stakeholders are more careful with investment decisions. Chipotle’s share has been hammered by 12% and this number is still increasing. After losing its backbone, McDonald’s, Chipotle became more vulnerable to the market competition. I think it is highly possible that it will be soon surpassed by its competitors. Even if it fixes the controlling aspect of its operation management, the situation will hardly get better.
