Athen’s Chipotle location is one of many across the state currently not serving carnitas following an “animal welfare” disagreement with one of the company’s pork suppliers.
Athens residents craving Chipotle’s carnitas will have to venture elsewhere to get their pork fix for the foreseeable future.
A sign reading “Sorry, no carnitas” hanging on the restaurant's Court Street entrance is one of many appearing nationwide following a disagreement with one of the company’s pork suppliers.
Chris Arnold, communications director at Chipotle, said the company suspended business with a pork supplier after an audit revealed it was not meeting standards of raising pigs with either access to the outdoors or raising them in deeply bedded pens.
“This is fundamentally an animal welfare decision, and is rooted in our unwillingness to compromise our standards where animal welfare is concerned,” said Arnold in an email to The Post. “We would rather not serve pork at all than serve pork that is raised (in conditions that don’t meet the company’s standards).”
Some Athens residents who frequent the store say they aren’t losing sleep over the shortage.
“It shows that they have a value for what they’re serving to their customers,” said Wesley Lumpkin, a sophomore studying marketing at Ohio University, who eats Chipotle two to three times per month.
Lumpkin added he thinks this type of decision builds trust with consumers who watch what they eat very closely, and said he’d be happy to go without his preferred topping if it were out of stock due to an ethical disagreement with a supplier.
“I think it’s a good idea,” said Katie Moore, an undecided freshman at OU, who eats Chipotle roughly once every two weeks. “Customers can trust their food, so they don’t have to worry about having bad meat...I respect them for that.”
Arnold said the company is searching for alternative avenues of expanding their pork supply, but that it may take “some time.”
Employees at the Athens location declined to comment on the matter.
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