DENVER — Chipotle Mexican Grill has suspended pork sales at approximately one-third of its U.S. restaurants after discovering violations with a supplier who didn’t comply with the chain’s livestock-housing policies.
“This is fundamentally an animal-welfare decision and is rooted in our unwillingness to compromise our standards,” Chris Arnold, spokesman for Denver’s Chipotle Mexican Grill, said in an email to Bloomberg. The violations were related to Chipotle’s livestock-housing rules, which require that animals are raised with access to the outdoors or deeply bedded barns.
In the meantime, the Denver-based company has cut pork sales from 560 U.S. restaurants while they seek new suppliers. Niman Ranch, Chipotle’s biggest pork supplier, and not the one with the problem, will increase its shipments 15 to 20 per cent to Chipotle until further notice.
Since 2001, Chipotle has sourced 100 per cent of its pork from producers who comply with its animal-welfare policies.
