McDonald’s continues to struggle with brand perception issues. The founder of past partner Chipotle Steve Ells, recently tells a story about visiting a chicken farm operated by McDonalds. He stated that it was “absolutely the most disgusting thing he had ever seen in his life.” This statement is not a complete surprise to Steve Ells and Chipotle watchers. This is because he is known as an advocate of sustainable food practices or “food with integrity” in the restaurant industry.
Specifically, Ells has championed the use of organic products and naturally raised meats by restaurants. This passion has lead him to commit to an industry trend setting goal of serving more than 60 million pounds of antibiotic free meat, pork, and chicken. This commitment and the culture of Chipotle have started to affect their bottom line. In addition, Ells has testified before Congress to support the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act, which proposes to mitigate the amount of antibiotics farm animals are given.
As referenced earlier, McDonald’s and Chipotle are no longer partners due to a host of reasons. Although, the partnership saw Chipotle grow from twenty restaurants in Colorado in the late nineties to over 500 global locations in the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany and France, by the end of the partnership in 2006.
Ells used candor when discussing those reasons as two big differences, the approach to food and the approach to people. Polls show that 45 percent of Americans agree because they are seeking organic products. And the executives at McDonald’s are citing their dismal performance of late to the “food integrity” movement as well.