Businesses have found that people are willing to spend ~$20 on a fast/fast-casual lunch, and now most everybody charges that amount. But the national chains are also aiming for food consistency between locations, which means that my Chipotle and McDonald's meal is going to be only as good as they can economically make it in a blasted food desert like Indianapolis, whereas the local restaurants and regional chains can take advantage of me living less than 200 miles of 40% of the country's fresh produce production.
The fast food / fast-casual segments are losing price differentiation, and the fast food options are losing on quality.
> In 2018, Niccol became the CEO of Chipotle Mexican Grill, replacing founder Steve Ells. Although Niccol had moved west to Newport Beach, California to join Taco Bell, he did not move back east to Denver when he joined Chipotle. Rather, under his leadership, Chipotle moved its headquarters from Denver to Newport Beach. During his tenure, he helped double Chipotle's revenue while its profits increased almost seven times. The stock price of Chipotle has increased by almost eight times under Niccol. Niccol also increased salaries for Chipotle's retail staff and expanded employee benefits. In 2023, Niccol's total compensation at Chipotle was $22.5 million, or 1,354 times the median employee pay at Chipotle for that year.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Niccol#Chipotle_Mexican_...
https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/CMG/chipotle-mexic...
https://sherwood.news/business/chipotle-sales-grown-since-20...
(he's also staunchly anti labor/anti union)
https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/2020?amount=1
As govt inflation rates are often reported lower than actual, there's a good chance real inflation (or perhaps food inflation) was higher, and in spitting distance of 45%.
That's probably where I would put the floor in order to avoid a population that actively desires my head on a platter.
I’m pretty sure the last several times I’ve eaten chipotle, across several states, I’ve been given hard rice and cold meat. I don’t remember it being that common a decade ago.
A decade ago going to Chipotle was a treat. You'd get a fresh and honestly gigantic burrito for a pretty reasonable price. Sometimes I would stop after work and pick up burritos/bowls for the entire family.
I went a couple of years ago and it was just sad. They didn't shrink the tortilla so I ended up with a burrito that was practically double wrapped after they skimped on all of the fillings and it cost something in the double digits. I have not been back. The only good thing was in the old days the line would be pretty long and it would be a wait, but last time I went I was able to walk right up and order.
It's not like Chipotle doesn't have plenty of competition. There's a Qdoba right down the streets from mine and a Califorina Tortilla in the other. Across town there is a Cafe Rio. It feels like some middle management dweeb thought we wouldn't notice when they tried to maximize profits.
A similar burrito from any other local place near me is $15 or more. These might be a bit healthier but it's 50% more expensive.
You can definitely meal prep everything for a Chipotle burrito or bowl for about half the price meal but that doesn't factor in the time to grocery shop and cook (and also buy tortillas from Chipotle because for some reason you can't get them as a consumer from any wholesaler...). I opt for making burritos that can be frozen instead and it's nice having a freezer filled with 3-4 different options that take 5 minutes to defrost/reheat in the microwave. @stealth_health_life on instagram has a bunch of great recipes but it's also not really hard to just prep individual burrito fillings and make your own.
Chipotle lists its portion size for protein to be 4oz which roughly translates to 27g of protein IF they don’t skimp on the portions (which they usually do. Unless the rest of the ingredients make up for 33g of protein, it’s very hard to get what you’re suggesting at Chipotle anymore.
On the other hand, the Mexican truck down the street sells $3 street tacos with way more meat.
I am not sure where you live, but here in Atlanta that's about 30g of protein (still about 1000 calories depending on free additions) at almost $15 after tax. Or I could go to a local mexican place and get a similar burrito for less than $10.
jtf23•3h ago
I smiled at being caught in an unguarded state of preoccupation with my dark thoughts. Then I took a sip of the decaf.
“It’s good. Tastes like the real thing,” I said, and this time I was telling the truth.
“Nothing hard about making a good cup of coffee,” Lillian said to this customer as she lit up another cigarette.
And that statement provided something of an answer to my questions about Lillian and her business. Because the coffee at the Metro Diner didn’t have to be as good as it was, nor did the excellent food served there have to be so carefully prepared or so reasonably priced. That was not how we did things where I happened to work. The company that employed me strived only to serve up the cheapest fare that its customers would tolerate, churn it out as fast as possible, and charge as much as they could get away with. If it were possible to do so, the company would sell what all businesses of its kind dream about selling, creating that which all our efforts were tacitly supposed to achieve: the ultimate product –– Nothing. And for this product they would command the ultimate price –– Everything.
JaggerJo•2h ago
linehedonist•2h ago