In the words of the controversial financier, George Soros, “I haven’t given up the illusion that I have something important and original to say”. On October 30th, 2025, I was perusing my Twitter feed— a once enjoyable experience that has sadly decayed over the last few years. That is not the subject of today’s prose, however.
This day coincided with the third quarter earnings announcement from Chipotle Mexican Grill. The past few years have been tough for this once loved purveyor of proteins and vegetables. A few solid years of unabating global inflation had caused input costs to soar which, in turn, means menu inflation followed. It was around this period that Chipotle faced increasing backlash online about their portion sizes— both in terms of their inconsistency as well as the fact customers felt they were being shortchanged. Was this tactful internal policy to save margins or an unfortunately-timed gradual decline in the enforcement of standards? Who’s to say.
The fact of the matter…