Kristen Wagner Informative Speech #1 COM 202 Professor Fonseca Introduction: I. Attention Catcher: Who here has ever been to Chipotle? Well, did you know that Chipotle makes more than $1 billion in sales every year and has a stock market value of over $4 billion (Markels, 2008). II. Thesis Statement: Since Chipotle was founded in 1993 it has been on the constant up rise. Within the past few years, the popularity of this fast food chain has grown enormously. Whether it is because of the delicious taste of the food, or the fact that they use the best ingredients raised with respect for animals, people all over the country crave Chipotle. III. Preview: You probably thought the only thing to know about Chipotle was the difference between a burrito, taco, and a bowl, but there is much more to Chipotle than that. The story behind how Chipotle started is very interesting. The chain has a “Food With Integrity” commitment which is focused around using only naturally raised animals and organic products. And since Chipotle has become so popular and since they differ from typical fast food restaurants an online web series has been developed about them. Body: I. Steve Ells is the founder as well as CEO of Chipotle. As he grew up he had a passion for being in the kitchen and cooking. He decided to attend the Culinary Institute of America to become a chef. After he graduated he moved out to San Francisco to work in his favorite restaurant called Stars. His dream was to open his own restaurant but at the time he did not have enough money to do so. So he decided he would open something small and cheap that could earn him enough money to open his actual restaurant. While he was out in San Francisco he ate at a lot of small, local taco-­‐rias which is what inspired him to start Chipotle. He moved back to his hometown of Denver, Colorado and opened Chiptole in a former Dolly Madison ice cream shop in 1993 (Stein, 2012). Since he did not have a lot of money, he got materials at a hardware store to decorate and furnish the restaurant (which is still the design of Chipotle today). As Steve was doing research, he heard about independent family farms in Iowa. He decided to take a trip out there and looked at different farms to learn how pigs were raised. He found out that the majority of the pork served in the US was from pigs raised in confinement and tortured. He knew he did not want that to be apart of his restaurant so he decided to use naturally raised animals instead. Steve always thought he would open one Chipotle and then move on to his “real” restaurant, but it ended up doing so well he figured he would open one more. So in 1995 he opened another location. His idea sky rocketed and by 1999 he had over 10 restaurants and had expanded outside of Colorado. McDonald’s was Chipotle’s main investor for seven years. In 2006 they sold its shares because they both realized that they wanted to go in different directions. It was that same year that Chipotle went public on the New York Stock Exchange. Now there are over 900 locations and they are continuing to improve and grow. a. Steve was asked how he developed such a successful business. Steve’s answer to this was, "Focus on just a few things, and do them better than anybody else," in regards to his menu with only three items on it (Markels, 2008). Transition: While Chipotle is considered a fast food restaurant over the years it works to go away from the stereotypical idea of fast food by using better and healthier ingredients. II. What separates Chipotle from other fast food chains is where the food they serve comes from. Chipotle’s mission is “Food with Integrity.” Chipotle says, “Food with integrity is our commitment to finding the very best ingredients raised with respect for the animals, the environment and the farmers.” (Chipotle.com). It is Chipotle’s commitment to changing traditional “fast food” culture. a. Food with Integrity focuses on supporting and sustaining family farmers who respect their land and their animal. Whenever possible they use meat raised without the use of antibiotics or added hormones. They also source local and organic produce when possible and they use dairy from cows raised without the use of synthetic hormones. Food With Integrity has been going on of over a decade and it is something that is never going to end. b. Chipotle only uses naturally raised animals. “Naturally raised animals are raised in a humane way, fed a vegetarian diet, never given hormones and allowed to display their natural tendencies” (Chipotle.com). Chipotle uses all different types of naturally raised animals. i. Pork: Since 2001, Chipotle has been using naturally raised pigs to get their pork. ii. Beef: at first it was hard for Chipotle to find suppliers who met their standards. But eventually they did and now 100% of their beef is from ranches that meet their standards. iii. Diary Cattle: these are pasture-­‐raised cattle that Chipotle gets their cheese and sour cream from. Chipotle will not purchase any dairy that comes from cows treat with rBGH. rBGH; Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone is used by commercial diary farms to increase milk production. iv. Chicken: the U.S. law states that all chicken available today must be raised without added growth hormones. But Chipotle of course takes it a step further by sourcing 100% of their chicken from farms that raise them without antibiotics either. v. Once in a while there is a shortage in certain areas of the country, but they notify you of that in the restaurant when that happens. Transition: With Chipotle striving to break free from the stereotypical idea of a fast food restaurant it has gotten a lot of attention from not only their customers but the media as well. III. Chipotle’s newest campaign is unlike anything any other fast food restaurant has ever done before. Chipotle launched their own web series. The show can be viewed on hulu.com and is called “Farmed and Dangerous.” It is an original comedy series produced by Chipotle Mexican Grill that explores the outrageously twisted world of industrial agriculture. At the moment there are four episodes that are about 20 minutes each. Each episode costs $250,000 (Philp, 2014). The first episode aired on February 17th, 2014. The series is part of an unconventional Chipotle marketing campaign to make people think about the origins of their food. a. The trailer shows the audience the PetroPellet which is a petroleum-­‐
based animal feed that will help cut out the cost of growing and transporting feed. The show does not hold anything back as it brings you into the dark world of agriculture. It shows how industries will go to any lengths to keep costs down and keep product moving. The show does not specifically feature Chipotle or any of its product but the message is clear. “Eat at Chipotle, because it doesn't have anything to do with that scary world” (Diaz, 2014). b. Aside from their new show, Chipotle has previously shown skill for online video. Two years ago they released a short animated film about sustainable farming called back to the start featuring Willie Nelson. This generated over 8 million views on YouTube (Luckerson, 2014). Conclusion: I.
Thesis Restatement: People across the country love Chipotle for many different reasons. Whether they are drawn in for the delicious food, or the fact that Chipotle takes pride in only use naturally raised animals and organic products, the popularity of Chipotle has taken off. II.
Clincher: According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, American pork producers use over 10 million pounds of antibiotics per year to keep their confinement raised pigs from getting sick. That's more than an estimated three times the amount used to treat all human illness. That is definitely something to think about the next time you go out to for fast food.