Chipotle this week kicked off Real Foodprint, a sustainability impact tracker that compares the average values for each of the fast-casual chain’s 53 real ingredients to their conventional counterparts.
The five key metrics analyzed by Real Foodprint are:
- Less carbon in the atmosphere (measured in grams)
- Gallons of water saved
- Improved soil health (measured in square feet)
- Organic land supported (measured in square feet)
- Antibiotics avoided (measured in milligrams)
Guests will receive data on those metrics when they reach the order confirmation screen on the Chipotle application or Chipotle.com.
Chipotle teamed up with HowGood on the metrics, and the mission-driven, independent research company aggregates information from the chain’s suppliers and over 450 unique data sources—including peer-reviewed scientific literature, industry findings and research from government and non-governmental organizations—to evaluate the average impact of Chipotle’s 53 real ingredients on the environment and animal welfare.
Bill Nye the Science Guy demonstrated how Real Foodprint works in the video below, which he also posted to TikTok.
Chipotle teamed up with Twitter on a sharing engine for the Real Footprint site, which converts people’s tweets from the Real Foodprint simulator into sharable text memes that enable them to encourage their followers to follow suit.
Data is pulled in directly from the Chipotle order, and the stats are automatically inserted into the tweet copy without the user having to do anything.
This week only, fans can tweet their favorite Chipotle order to @ChipotleTweets and get a shareable tweet back summarizing the key impact each order makes.
Chipotle head of sustainability Caitlin Leibert said in a statement, “Beyond asking people to make the right choice for the climate based on a carbon label, we are demonstrating the impact of our sourcing practices through data computed based on the ingredients in our guests’ orders. While our guests can make good choices for the planet by simply eating at Chipotle, the radical transparency provided by Real Foodprint also holds us accountable to improve our practices and source more sustainably over time. It is the combination of transparency for our guests and Chipotle’s commitment to higher standards that make Real Foodprint so impactful.”
Chief marketing officer Chris Brandt added, “For more than 25 years, Chipotle has been dedicated to responsibly sourcing every single one of our ingredients and creating industry-leading practices around animal welfare and sustainability. Now, with Real Foodprint, our guests can see how this commitment is better for the planet in each individual order.”
