Source: Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE, 1/14/15


Fast Mexican food chain Chipotle has suspended a large pork supplier after a routine animal welfare audit and has temporarily stopped serving entrees with its carnitas pork topping at about one-third of its restaurants, a company spokesman told multiple news outlets.  

The spokesman said the company learned the supplier was not meeting Chipotle's animal welfare standards on Friday through a routine audit. He did not give a timeline for when carnitas would return to affected stores.

Without naming the supplier, the spokesman said Chipotle is looking at a variety of ways to remedy its carnitas shortage, including the use of different cuts of pork or increasing orders from other suppliers until the supplier in question meets the standards, apparently related to animal housing.

Marketing strategy
Chipotle markets its restaurants heavily around how it sources its products. In 2013 the company launched “The Scarecrow,” an arcade-style adventure game for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, along with a companion animated short film of the same name, that mocked modern food production.

Last year it launched the four-episode “Farmed and Dangerous” online mini-series that mocked commercial production of livestock and provoked outrage from the animal agriculture industry.

Regarding the pork suspension, Chipotle had not responded to a request for more information by press time.

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