That yummy Chipotle burrito you like to get for lunch may bump up in price later this year.
For months now, Chipotle executives have been hinting that changes in menu prices were in the works. While the chain has held off on raising prices significantly in recent years, in January 2018, the chain finished implementing price increases that began in April 2017.
Chipotle also hired an outside consultant to analyze the menu’s pricing, executives revealed at the ICR Conference on Tuesday. The analysis came at a time when many chains began investigating ways to avoid having rising labor costs cut into profit margins.
“Every cost in the business is a challenge,” Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol told Business Insider. “The good news is we have a model that we can invest in our labor. And, we will use sales growth coupled with some pricing to handle it.”
Niccol and CFO Jack Hartung did emphasize that the chain will keep prices well within customers’ price range.
“We’re behind on raising prices,” Hartung said. “I think we want to say we’re always behind. What that means is we’re making Chipotle accessible to everybody.”
Hartung went on to compare Chipotle with Whole Foods, saying, “We chose a long time ago, and we’re still sticking with this, we don’t want to be like Whole Foods. Whole Foods does a great job, but they historically have charged very, very high prices.”
