Restaurant chain Chipotle announced it will implement a 2% increase in prices due to inflation.
It is the company's first price increase since October 2023. The company also implemented two price increases in 2022 and once in June 2021.
“For the first time in over a year, we have taken a modest price increase of approximately 2% nationally to offset inflation," said Laurie Schalow, Chipotle's chief corporate affairs officer.
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Food inflation has normalized in the past two years after massive increases in 2021 and 2022. According to the consumer price index, beef prices are 1.9% higher than a year ago, and poultry is unchanged.
However, labor costs remain much higher. Average weekly wages this year are 4% higher nationally than a year ago, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The announcement comes as Chipotle has responded to criticism it has reduced portion sizes. The company said it has worked on training employees to ensure customers are served "generous" portions.
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"We know that portioning is a core equity of ours in the organization, and we are committed to ensuring that we give the right portion to every guest that walks into the building," company chief operating and restaurant officer Scott Boarwright told investors in October. "We've seen strong improvement even through our social channels of people now it's a reverse of what we saw earlier in the year, around people posting big burritos, big bowls and really excited about portioning they're getting in the Chipotle brand."
