If it was just 10% of restaurants skimping a little, the effect would not be nearly enough to show up on quarterly financials.
The fact that he addresses this at all, and the fact that it is big enough to show up on financials, shows that it is a significant company-wide issue. I also note the weasel word, over 10%. That could mean 100%.
My guess is the vast majority if not all of their locations were skimping, because corporate told them to. And now suddenly they realize they lost customer good will, and a lot of people just stopped going. It probably shows up in focus groups, if enough people said I used to eat Chipotle but they started skipping on portions so I don’t go there anymore, they realized they lost people. And an announcement like this is necessary because those customers aren’t going back to the store and won’t see the larger portion.
If it was just 10% of restaurants skimping a little, the effect would not be nearly enough to show up on quarterly financials. The fact that he addresses this at all, and the fact that it is big enough to show up on financials, shows that it is a significant company-wide issue. I also note the weasel word, over 10%. That could mean 100%. My guess is the vast majority if not all of their locations were skimping, because corporate told them to. And now suddenly they realize they lost customer good will, and a lot of people just stopped going. It probably shows up in focus groups, if enough people said I used to eat Chipotle but they started skipping on portions so I don’t go there anymore, they realized they lost people. And an announcement like this is necessary because those customers aren’t going back to the store and won’t see the larger portion.