Chipotle Becomes the First National Restaurant Company to Use Only Non-GMO Ingredients
27 April 2015 - 11:30PM
Business Wire
Company now shifting focus to creating an even better
tortilla
Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) has achieved its goal of
moving to only non-GMO ingredients to make all of the food in its
U.S. restaurants – including all of the food at its Asian
restaurant concept, ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen. The company
is now actively developing new recipes for its tortillas, which are
the only food items on its menu that include any artificial
additives. Both initiatives underscore Chipotle’s commitment to
serving food made from the very best ingredients.
GMOs, or genetically modified organisms, are crops that have had
specific changes introduced to their DNA that don’t occur
naturally, using the science of genetic engineering. GMOs are
common in the American food system. According to the USDA National
Agricultural Statistics Service, 94% of corn and 93% of soybeans
grown in this country came from GMO strains in 2014. As a result,
more than 80% of foods consumed in the U.S. contain genetically
modified ingredients, by some estimates, making it very difficult
for consumers to avoid GMO ingredients in restaurants or in food
purchased in grocery stores.
“There is a lot of debate about genetically modified foods,”
said Steve Ells, founder, chairman and co-CEO of Chipotle. “Though
many countries have already restricted or banned the use of GMO
crops, it’s clear that a lot of research is still needed before we
can truly understand all of the implications of widespread GMO
cultivation and consumption. While that debate continues, we
decided to move to non-GMO ingredients.”
Chipotle became the first national restaurant company to
voluntarily disclose GMO ingredients in its food in March 2013, and
pledged at that time to move to non-GMO ingredients for all of its
food. Most of the company’s use of genetically modified ingredients
was tied to soybean oil, which it used to cook chips and taco
shells, and in a number of recipes (such as the adobo rub it uses
for grilled chicken and steak) and for cooking (both on its grills
and for use in sauté pans). Corn and flour tortillas also included
some GMO ingredients.
Chipotle suppliers planted non-GMO corn varieties to meet
Chipotle’s needs for corn tortillas, and the company replaced
soybean oil with sunflower oil to cook its chips and taco shells,
and with rice bran oil for other recipes and uses. Both oils are
extracted from crops for which there are no commercially available
genetically modified varieties. Other GMO ingredients in tortillas
were replaced with non-GMO alternatives.
While GMO advocates point to higher costs associated with
producing non-GMO foods, Chipotle’s move to non-GMO ingredients did
not result in significantly higher ingredient costs for the
company, and it did not raise prices resulting from its move to
non-GMO ingredients.
With the transition to non-GMO ingredients for its food
completed, Chipotle has set its sights on eliminating the few
remaining artificial ingredients from its tortillas. Excluding
tortillas, the food on Chipotle’s entire menu consists of just 46
ingredients – nearly all of which are simple, whole ingredients
that could be purchased at any local supermarket. By contrast, a
typical Mexican fast food restaurant may use well over 200
different ingredients.
Tortillas are the only food item on Chipotle’s menu that
contains any additives, which include a minimal number of
preservatives and dough conditioners. While the company has made
significant strides in reducing the number of additives in its
tortillas, it is now embarking on a quest to eliminate all of the
remaining additives. The goal is to achieve a simple recipe with
only a few ingredients, much like tortillas made in more
traditional ways that include only wheat flour, oil, water, salt
and a starter for flour tortillas, for example.
Achieving this goal will be difficult and take time. Tortillas
today are made very quickly and require the use of dough
conditioners to give the tortilla the consistency that was once
achieved by allowing the dough to rise slowly. Chipotle is working
in close partnership with its tortilla suppliers and the Bread Lab
at Washington State University to develop a new system of making
tortillas that will allow the dough to rise slowly and eliminate
the need for the dough conditioners. Eliminating the few
preservatives will be slightly easier, but still a challenge simply
because tortillas are difficult to keep fresh for long.
The company has developed new tortilla recipes and initial taste
tests have been very encouraging, but it’s too early to say how
long it will take before these new tortillas will be served at any
Chipotle locations.
“We are changing the way people think about and eat fast food,
and that means cooking with the very best ingredients – ingredients
that are free of additives – but still serving food that is
affordable, convenient, and most importantly delicious,” said Ells.
“That’s really unusual in fast food, but that’s the quest we are
on, and we continue to make progress."
For more information about Chipotle’s ingredients and its move
to non-GMO foods, visit www.chipotle.com/gmo. To learn more about
its quest to make tortillas even better, visit
www.chipotle.com/tortilla-journey.
ABOUT CHIPOTLE
Steve Ells, founder, chairman and co-CEO, started Chipotle with
the idea that food served fast did not have to be a typical fast
food experience. Today, Chipotle continues to offer a focused menu
of burritos, tacos, burrito bowls (a burrito without the tortilla)
and salads made from fresh, high-quality raw ingredients, prepared
using classic cooking methods and served in a distinctive
atmosphere. Through our vision of Food With Integrity, Chipotle is
seeking better food from using ingredients that are not only fresh,
but that—where possible—are sustainably grown and naturally raised
with respect for the animals, the land, and the farmers who produce
the food. A similarly focused people culture, with an emphasis on
identifying and empowering top performing employees, enables us to
develop future leaders from within. Chipotle opened with a single
restaurant in 1993 and currently operates more than 1,800
restaurants. For more information, visit Chipotle.com.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available:
http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20150427005138/en/
ChipotleChris Arnold,
303-222-5912carnold@chipotle.com
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