Editor’s Note

While I continue to be impressed by the quality and value of retail meal solutions programs being served up by supermarkets, I find that there’s still room for improvement among most operators in terms of taking their meal programs to the rightful next level – a point that was recently reaffirmed for me while dining at one of my favorite fast-casual chains, Chipotle Mexican Grill.

Notwithstanding my affinity for the as-I-like-it aspects of its assembly-line set-up that lends splendidly to immediate interaction with associates when placing an order, I really admire the attention Chipotle devotes to making customers aware of its food sourcing practices, which includes naturally raised meats, local and organic produce and rBGH-free dairy products.

Prior to proceeding, I'd like to note that my appreciation for its food sourcing relates less to the implicit higher quality proposition aspects its purely natural ingredients convey than to the way the chain actively engages and educates patrons about its relationships with its suppliers in a variety of very cool, highly effective ways, including a limited-time only self-promotional newspaper called The Gold Burrito Digest.

Designed to help commemorate the Denver-based fast-casual dining chain’s18th anniversary that kicked off earlier this spring – the cornerstone element of which is a temporary switch from its long-standing trademark silver foil to gold foil for its signature burrito wrappers – the in-store newsletter is a clever little thing of beauty. Emblazoned with humorous banner headlines like, “BURRITOS KEY TO FUTURE…Gold Burrito Effect Changing the Earth’s Trajectory," the four-page, black-and-white, tabloid-sized digest provides the perfect punctuation to enjoy with your made-to-order Mexican-inspired meal.

Beyond the cheeky humor, there’s a host of other informative and enlightening elements that underscore the central mission of Chipotle’s “Food With Integrity” sourcing platform that revolves around the food their certified eco-friendly farmers grow and raise.

“From Farm to Foil: Meet the farmers who grew your burrito,” reads the headline of the second lead story, which begs the diner-reader to “slow their scarfing” and “pause to breathe between bites of your delicious burrito and mentally marinate on the origins of the golden ingredients [and] the proud people and farming practices that bring them to life…and check out some of the faces and places that make [it] possible.”

With that, we see and learn about the “farm to foil” source of eight of its suppliers, some of which just so happen to be familiar names in the retail grocery world as well, including its Washington-based pinto bean partner, Haricot Farms; cilantro supplier, Earthbound Farm; red onion supplier, Cala-St. Croix Farms; Salinas, Calif,-based lettuce comrade Church Bros.; Ohio-based jalepeno partner Wiers Farms; and protein partner, Niman Ranch, among others.

When kicking off the anniversary campaign earlier this year, Chipotle founder, chairman and co-CEO Steve Ells explained that nearly 18 years after opening the first Chipotle, “I have always looked for the best ingredients I could find. But as it turns out, even our most loyal customers don’t always know about the lengths we go to in order to source the best ingredients. So we decided to do something that would really grab their attention,” ergo the tricked-out gold foiled wrappers, clever ad campaign and ongoing mobile contest featuring a text short code (text GOLD to 888222) that allows customers to learn more about its Food With Integrity program.

And so, the main point of this praiseworthy commentary about Chipotle is simply this: as the fresh meals segment of supermarkets continues to evolve along with customers’ expectations, the opportunity to enlighten and inform them is huge – and ditto for the resulting paybacks to your future bottom lines.