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Not going to disagree with your comment but I find it so socially interesting that “the most successful CEO in the restaurant market” is judged by something tha

Not going to disagree with your comment but I find it so socially interesting that “the most successful CEO in the restaurant market” is judged by something that has nothing to do with the quality of the food.

xhkkffbf 2y ago
I think you're foolish if you think that stock price "has nothing to do with the quality of the food." Repeat customers are a big part of the profitability for any business and they're a big part of the success of Chipotle. Unless you think that the quality of the food doesn't matter to the customers, I think the real challenge for any restaurant is to come up with an acceptable level of quality for an acceptable price. The stock price shows that he achieved that for an increasing number of customers.
maronato 2y ago
In theory, the stock price is at least partially tied to sales and brand perception, which in turn correlates with the perceived quality/price ratio by the public.
- manuelmoreale 2y ago
  And in practice? Asking seriously, I never had Chipotle (because it’s not even a thing here) so has the product actually improved all that much under this guy’s guide?
  - alephnerd 2y ago
    > so has the product actually improved all that much under this guy’s guide Food Safety wise absolutely. Menu Diversity wise absolutely not. Pre-Niccols, Chipotle gave more leeway to restaurants to modify the menu in non-standard manners as well as play around with sizing and with limited corporate oversight. This was great for customers, but the limited oversight and lack of standardization lead to an E Coli and Salmonella breakout at a handful of Chipotle branches, which collapsed customer confidence, the Chipotle stock, and became a massive PR nightmare. When Niccols was brought in, corporate cracked down on customer option and diversity in order to better manage the risk profile. Standardization is great for margins by minimizing risk and overhead, but this comes at the expensive of diversity (every consumer likes a high touch sales cycle).
alephnerd 2y ago
> I find it so socially interesting that “the most successful CEO in the restaurant market” is judged by something that has nothing to do with the quality of the food. Great observation! Different industries have different margins. High margin industries give breathing room for stronger Product-Market Fit to emerge. PMF forces companies to try and optimize for customer satisfaction, and protects against commodification by keeping customers happy. On the other hand, in industries with low margins (eg. Restaurants), commodification is extremely high so penny pinching is critical in order to manage your operating costs. Furthermore, you will be dependent on outside investors to raise capital, so Investor Relations becomes critical.

xhkkffbf 2y ago

I think you're foolish if you think that stock price "has nothing to do with the quality of the food." Repeat customers are a big part of the profitability for any business and they're a big part of the success of Chipotle. Unless you think that the quality of the food doesn't matter to the customers, I think the real challenge for any restaurant is to come up with an acceptable level of quality for an acceptable price. The stock price shows that he achieved that for an increasing number of customers.

maronato 2y ago

In theory, the stock price is at least partially tied to sales and brand perception, which in turn correlates with the perceived quality/price ratio by the public.

manuelmoreale 2y ago
And in practice? Asking seriously, I never had Chipotle (because it’s not even a thing here) so has the product actually improved all that much under this guy’s guide?
- alephnerd 2y ago
  > so has the product actually improved all that much under this guy’s guide Food Safety wise absolutely. Menu Diversity wise absolutely not. Pre-Niccols, Chipotle gave more leeway to restaurants to modify the menu in non-standard manners as well as play around with sizing and with limited corporate oversight. This was great for customers, but the limited oversight and lack of standardization lead to an E Coli and Salmonella breakout at a handful of Chipotle branches, which collapsed customer confidence, the Chipotle stock, and became a massive PR nightmare. When Niccols was brought in, corporate cracked down on customer option and diversity in order to better manage the risk profile. Standardization is great for margins by minimizing risk and overhead, but this comes at the expensive of diversity (every consumer likes a high touch sales cycle).

alephnerd 2y ago

> I find it so socially interesting that “the most successful CEO in the restaurant market” is judged by something that has nothing to do with the quality of the food. Great observation! Different industries have different margins. High margin industries give breathing room for stronger Product-Market Fit to emerge. PMF forces companies to try and optimize for customer satisfaction, and protects against commodification by keeping customers happy. On the other hand, in industries with low margins (eg. Restaurants), commodification is extremely high so penny pinching is critical in order to manage your operating costs. Furthermore, you will be dependent on outside investors to raise capital, so Investor Relations becomes critical.