Chipotle CEO Says the Company is Now (Virtually) Free of GMO Ingredients

 

The company Chipotle has made major strides, going from a company owned by McDonald’s to one that is now almost free of all GMOs, or genetically modified organisms, in its ingredients.

This is actually quite rare for America, where the vast majority of all GM crops are grown. Recently, bans of the top GM crop, corn, have taken root in Russia and France among several other nations.

Their CEO, Steve Ells, who has been profiled many times by top news organizations, recently announced that the company is almost non-GMO, virtually GMO free as they put it.

Some stats from the page GMO Free USA on Chipotle's switch to non-GMO.

Some stats from the page GMO Free USA on Chipotle’s switch to non-GMO.

According to Ells, they have “virtually eliminated all of the GMO ingredients in (their) food).” Unfortunately, GMO ingredients can still be found in perhaps the most important part of the Chipotle burrito, the tortillas, but the company plans to try non-GMO tortillas by the end of the year, as noted in this article (read it here to see what you can order to avoid GMOs the next time you go to Chipotle).

The news has coincided with excellent stock results for the company, as noted in this article. Many have speculated that the stock prices rising has been associated with the change to non-GMO ingredients, something customers have been waiting to see for years.

Of course, Chipotle will be raising prices in accordance with their need to seek out higher-quality non-GMO ingredients and implement them into their supply chain, but so far the response seems positive, especially considering the company’s current market position.

Many people in America remain frustrated at the lack of GMO-free options, and choose not to dine out because of it. The vast majority of corn, soy and canola in the US, along with cotton products and some other foods including sugar from sugar beets, are genetically modified.

Yet dozens of other countries either ban or at least label the foods so people are aware of what they’re eating and can choose to avoid them.

As more and more Americans discover the potential health risks of GMOs and their unfortunate side effect of cross contaminating all natural crops genetically through pollination, many are willing to pay a premium for the opportunity to avoid them as residents of other nations are able to do (for a lesser relative price, of course).

 

Chipotle CEO Believes Customers Will Pay for Non-GMO Quality

Chipotle’s CFO Jack Hartung noted that the time was right for a price increase but thinks it will turn out well, as this article notes.

““It has been nearly three years since our last company-wide price increase, and while we want to remain accessible to our customers, we are at a point where we need to pass along these rapidly rising food costs,” said Hartung. “We are currently reviewing our menu prices on a market-by-market basis compared to competitors, and based on our analysis so far we plan to increase prices on average somewhere in the mid-single digits. We expect we will start installing new menu boards with higher prices later this quarter and finish installation by early in the third quarter.”

I do know that I personally am more than willing to pay a little extra to get quality non-GMO food. I never chose to consume foods that have been genetically altered in a laboratory to withstand massive doses of toxic weed killers, and I’m sure millions of other Americans agree with me, or will once they’re properly informed on the subject.

Let me know in the comments below what you think of Chipotle’s non-GMO commitment, and whether you’d be willing to pay extra or not.

 

Thanks for installing the Bottom of every post plugin by Corey Salzano. Contact me if you need custom WordPress plugins or website design.

Comments

comments

Categories: Uncategorized.
About Nick Meyer

Nick Meyer is a journalist who's been published in the Detroit Free Press, Dallas Morning News and several other outlets. He founded AltHealthWORKS in 2012 to showcase extraordinary stories of healing and the power of organic living, stories the mainstream media always seemed to miss. Check out Nick's Amazon best-seller 'Dirt Cheap Organic: 101 Tips For Going Organic on a Budget' by clicking here, as well as its sequel Dirt Cheap Weight Loss.