I agree with you - it's highly possible that I was experiencing a thoughtless Chipotle employee who just happened to be having a bad day. The reason I don't think this is likely though is that I go to Chipotle almost twice a week, our local Chipotle catered my wife's baby shower, and I know (because of my frequent visits) many of the employees there.
That's not the point though. The point is about price, affordability and the value equation.
I've done my homework and I've found an article that you may find of interest. According to CNN Money (click here) food costs are falling and therefore many restaurants in order to drive traffic and increase frequency are reducing their prices, not raising them. Any average consumer most likely has noticed that prices all around them are falling - not rising. Every major Casual Dining Restaurant brand is running specials and limited time offers that all revolve around a low price point.
With that said, it doesn't matter what Starbucks, Dunkin or any other restaurant charges. Why? Because in the end it's just numbers and I can compare two prices next to each from totally different occasions/time frames and make the same point you attempted to make.
Why pay $100 for two people at Fleming's when you can spend $20 at Texas Roadhouse (it's still steak right?) Why spend $20 at Chili's when you can spend $8 at McDonald's? Why pay $60,000 for an Escalade when you can spend $20,000 on a Kia? I could go on and on and on and on.
This brings me back to value in the mind of the consumer. Starbucks is allowed to charge $4 for a cup of coffee because that's what it's "worth". If you recall when Starbucks raised their price 9 cents a cup people were outraged...even though it was only 9 cents. Why? Because suddenly we were paying more than we thought it was "worth."
Let me set the record straight, if you were a regular reader of this website you would know my deep passionate for Chipotle and their food. (Here, here and here are some examples). My previous post was simply a disappointing rant about what I see happening.
You can't ignore that prices have gone up and will continue to go up (even though the rest of the industry is going down). I know it's because Chipotle delivers a quality product however, my question to you and anyone else is: when is enough enough? When will Chipotle not be "worth it" anymore? When will price overwhelm quality and people stop caring?
As I said in my original post, we all have a number in our minds of how much we want to spend at each restaurant. When that number is violated and increases we become turned off and irritated. Eventually that irritation leads to customers reducing their number of visits.
Doing homework is tough, but I hope you will give me an A+.
Thanks,
Dan
"ok---not to defend your experience or justify what happened, but you obviously had a $9.00 an hour employee making some wrong choices. As someone who has worked in the food industry for over 35 years, there is no company in their right mind that would both INCREASE their prices AND shrink their portions at the same time. Chipotle was built around a reputation and still has that same one today. The one in my town has not changed anything but a small price increase. The food is still huge and incredible. Gas prices may be down, but have you seen ANYTHING else drop in price yet? All the price increases in EVERY OTHER INDUSTRY that were put into place due to "rising fuel costs" have NOT MOVED AT ALL. I was in a cab the other day and read a sign that stated a "fuel surcharge" of a $1.75 would be added effective on July 1st, 2008 as per the state regulators. That price is still in play, even with gas dropping. You tell me, when do you think the inflated prices from this past summer will drop? Right now the entire food industry is suffering from inflated prices more to import/export demands and rising costs from products used to create and maintain the food sources. (I.E. equipment, livestock feed, taxes, distribution costs) Do your homework before complaining about your burrito. People pay $4.00 for a CUP of coffee without blinking and complain about a $3.00 GALLON of gas. Go to Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts and look at their prices for a large cup, and then do the math against a gallon of gas at the current price. IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN THIS WAY. You had a bad experience with a minimum wage employee---don't slam a good company when you have no idea what you are talking about."
Posted: December 29, 2008 at 8:27am