Athens’ lone Chipotle restaurant has resumed serving carnitas amid a nationwide shortage of the pork filling, though its unclear how long it will stay.
Chipotle has been shuffling its limited amount of pork throughout its restaurants since the shortage began, company spokesman Chris Arnold said in an email.
“The way we have been handling the shortfall is to rotate the supply we have through all of our restaurants,” Arnold said. “A restaurant might not have carnitas for a month, for example, but then would have it back for two months.”
The Mexican food chain cut ties with one of its major pork suppliers earlier this year after an audit revealed the supplier was not meeting Chipotle’s animal welfare standards, according to a previous Post report.
Chipotle requires its pork suppliers raise pigs with either access to the outdoors or in deeply-bedded pens.
Arnold called the move an “animal welfare decision,” adding the company “would rather not serve pork at all than serve pork that is raised (in conditions that don’t meet the company’s standards).”
