Chipotle Mexican Grill’s CMG -1.72% sales, and stock, have
taken a big beating ever since an E. Coli outbreak in October at
some of its Oregon and Washington stores.

The once high-flying burrito chain has seen its shares fall
nearly 30% since then, and last week, Chipotle said same-store
sales this quarter could fall as much as 11% because of the
news. E. Coli is unpleasant business: the bacteria is found
naturally in the intestines of healthy people, but some strains
can cause cramps, diarrhea, and vomiting. Humans can become
exposed to E. Coli from contaminated water or food.

At an investor conference on Tuesday, Chief Financial Officer
Jack Hartung, laid a good chunk of blame of how big a problem
this outbreak has become for Chipotle on two culprits: the
government and the media.

In particular, Hartung took issue with what he characterized as
the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Protection’s (CDC) way
of reporting developments in the outbreak, specifically the
manner in which the CDC has been reporting one incident at a
time rather than a quick, broad probe.

“It’s been fueled by the sort of unusual, even unorthodox, way
the CDC has chosen to announce cases related to the original
outbreak in the Northwest,” Hartung told Wall Street analysts.
“They’ve done that a couple of times now and they’re not
announcing new cases – they’re simply announcing new reporting
to them from local health agencies.”

And that in turn has prompted the media to fan the hysteria, he
claimed.

“Of course the press writes ‘Outbreak expands to new states’,
which is not true,” he lamented, noting that all E. Coli cases
occurred in the same window, from October 24 to November 7, and
that later cases that were revealed stemmed from the same
outbreak.

“Because the media likes to write sensational headlines, we can
probably see when somebody sneezes that they’re going to say,
‘Ah, it’s E. Coli from Chipotle’ for a little bit of time,”
Hartung said.

Though this sounds like sour grapes and frustration, and hardly
the best way to manage a crisis, it’s easy to see how a big a
problem this has become for Chipotle, for years a Wall Street
darling that seemed would never come back down to earth.

As the graphic below shows, Chipotle’s perception with
consumers, based on a rolling poll by YouGov Brand Index, which
interviews 4,500 people each day.

Chipotle itself is feeling it.

“There’s been some degradation of loyalty with some of our
frequent customers,” Hartung said. “Not huge numbers, but
they’re important customers. We’ve got to do some work there.”

http://fortune.com/2015/12/08/chipotle-media-ecoli/

On 12/10/2015 12:19 PM, Tyler wrote:
> Chipotle Mexican Grill’s CMG -1.72% sales, and stock, have
> taken a big beating ever since an E. Coli outbreak in October at
> some of its Oregon and Washington stores.
>
> The once high-flying burrito chain has seen its shares fall
> nearly 30% since then, and last week, Chipotle said same-store
> sales this quarter could fall as much as 11% because of the
> news. E. Coli is unpleasant business: the bacteria is found
> naturally in the intestines of healthy people, but some strains
> can cause cramps, diarrhea, and vomiting. Humans can become
> exposed to E. Coli from contaminated water or food.
>
> At an investor conference on Tuesday, Chief Financial Officer
> Jack Hartung, laid a good chunk of blame of how big a problem
> this outbreak has become for Chipotle on two culprits: the
> government and the media.
>
> In particular, Hartung took issue with what he characterized as
> the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Protection’s (CDC) way
> of reporting developments in the outbreak, specifically the
> manner in which the CDC has been reporting one incident at a
> time rather than a quick, broad probe.
>
> “It’s been fueled by the sort of unusual, even unorthodox, way
> the CDC has chosen to announce cases related to the original
> outbreak in the Northwest,” Hartung told Wall Street analysts.
> “They’ve done that a couple of times now and they’re not
> announcing new cases – they’re simply announcing new reporting
> to them from local health agencies.”
>
> And that in turn has prompted the media to fan the hysteria, he
> claimed.


When did the CDC become the *Department of Public Relations* and why
would they worry about Chipotle's profits when they have hundreds of
sick voters and tax payers that they are paid to protect from places
like Chipotle's....

And a final word, their concern for their business over and above
getting people sick is a bit Narcissistic, but they are very Liberal and
seem to gravitate to the BIG GOVERNMENT ideology of Liberalism and they
banned guns in their stores so it looks as if the self destructive
nature of Liberalism is rearing it's ugly head and these Liberals that
run Chipotle's are actually reaping the Liberalism they have sown. And
oddly enough the corporation never told us what law or constitutional
power allowes the corporation to ban guns on Chipotle's property?

I'd be interested in hearing why they have a right to ban a person
exercising his right to buy something the same as the gays that are
supposedly exercising their right to buy something. Why is a gun owner
less of a person with less constitutional protection than someone that
is ***?

At Chipotle's you don't need to fear the guns, but what about the food?


*The ideology of Liberalism is a never ending stream of contradictions*


--
That's Karma