Chipotle readies for ‘unprecedented’ marketing push after food safety crisis

Chipotle is preparing to make an “unprecedented” marketing push to bring back customers after E. coli, salmonella and norovirus were linked to illnesses at its restaurants.

The Denver-based company also said its financial results will be “messy” this year as it recovers from the food safety crisis, but that it is “extremely confident” that it will eventually get its customers back. The stock, which has lost nearly half its value since the outbreaks surfaced, jumped nearly 6 percent Wednesday.

Starting in mid-February, Chipotle will launch a marketing campaign, both traditional and direct mail, to get customers to return to its restaurants, founder, chairman and co-CEO Steve Ells said at an investor conference Wednesday.

Advertisements won’t be a mea culpa, executives said, but rather a reminder of what Chipotle’s all about: fresh and sustainably sourced ingredients. The ads will be simple, featuring “beautiful pictures of food … and a clever headline,” Ells said.

Chipotle’s sales and stock price have been battered in recent months after an E. coli outbreak first surfaced in the Pacific Northwest and eventually stretched across nine states. Salmonella was also linked to some cases across the nation, and norovirus was linked to restaurants in Simi Valley, Calif., and Brighton, Mass.

Last week, the company revealed it had been served with a federal grand jury subpoena as part of a criminal investigation of the California norovirus outbreak.

The food safety scandal has led the chain to revamp food safety policies, including implementing DNA testing on all ingredients before they are shipped to restaurants. It is also chopping tomatoes and lettuce at a central kitchen instead of individual restaurants, so it can better test the ingredients for pathogens.

But customers still seem nervous. Chipotle said its established-store sales plunged 30 percent last month.

Chief Financial Officer John “Jack” Hartung warned that while the company’s growth prospects for the long term haven’t changed, “it’s going to be messy in terms of margins, in terms of earnings” this year.

Skittish customers, a new food safety regimen and higher staffing will all affect its bottom line this year, Hartung said. The company plans to have more staff at restaurants in coming months as customers return.