Chipotle Mexican Grill announced that the company’s executive compensation plans will be directly tied to its ongoing diversity and sustainability goals, including farmer focused initiatives. The objectives, which are categorized by Food & Animals, People, and the Environment, will hold Chipotle’s executive leadership team responsible to make business decisions that cultivate a better world.
Ten percent of officers’ annual incentive plans will be tied to their progress toward achieving the below goals.
“We are passionate about inspiring real change in people, food, and the environment every day,” says Laurie Schalow, Chief Corporate Affairs & Food Safety Officer. “The new compensation plan ensures our leaders continue to set the right example for our more than 88,000 employees while fulfilling our mission to drive change and Cultivate a Better World.”
Starting this year, Chipotle’s executive leadership team will be evaluated on their progress toward the following, overarching company goals:
Food & Animals
In effort to support more sustainable small farms, Chipotle is committed to increasing pounds of organic, local, and/or regeneratively grown/raised food used in its restaurants year over year.
For example, Chipotle ended 2020 at 31 million pounds of local produce and has a goal of reaching 37 million pounds of local produce by the end of 2021.
As part of the launch of its first-ever Super Bowl ad, Chipotle announced it is committing $5 million over the next five years to help invigorate the struggling farming industry. The company also introduced a Virtual Farmers Market to help create additional revenue streams for its suppliers amid COVID-19 and has worked with the National Young Farmers Coalition to offer education, scholarships, grants, and three-year contracts to young farmers.
People
While many organizations tend to focus on one, Chipotle has set out to maintain both racial and gender pay equity. It is also implementing a program that accelerates the development of its diverse field organization and support center employees for promotion to above restaurant and next level roles. Employee development has always been a priority at Chipotle and the formalized advancement process for diverse employees will only underscore this commitment.
Environment
Originally announced for 2025, Chipotle is moving up its goal to publish its Scope 3 emissions to December 31, 2021. The company currently publishes its Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions in its annual Sustainability Report and Sustainability Report Update.
The goal is part of Chipotle’s larger movement to increase transparency surrounding its carbon emissions and its food’s overall environmental impact. In the fall of 2020, Chipotle became the first brand to provide detailed impact data about its ingredients for guests after it launched Real Foodprint on the Chipotle app and Chipotle.com. Real Foodprint compares average values for each of Chipotle’s real ingredients to their conventional counterparts against five key metrics: Less Carbon in the Atmosphere, Gallons of Water Saver, Improved Soil Health, Organic Land Supported, and Antibiotics Avoided.
