Carnitas has returned to 90 percent of Chipotle Mexican Grill locations and should be back at all units by the end of November, the burrito chain announced Monday.
After suspending a pork supplier earlier this year for failing to meet the chain’s standards for animal welfare, Chipotle ceased serving its carnitas offerings at more than a third of its locations, later returning them to some units on a rotating basis to bridge supply gaps.
“The decision to stop selling Carnitas in many of our restaurants was an easy one,” said Chipotle co-CEO Steve Ells. “We simply will not compromise our high standards for animal welfare. Since making this decision, we have heard from thousands of our customers who have expressed support for our decision, and commended us for standing on principle. Now, we are excited to have Carnitas back in nearly all of our restaurants, and want to thank our customers for their patience while we worked to address this issue.”
Chipotle said it was able to restore the majority of its pork supply by working with existing domestic suppliers and adding a U.K.-based supplier to the list. Restaurants in the Cleveland and Atlanta markets, as well as those in North Carolina and South Carolina, remain unable to serve carnitas for now.
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