Chipotle CEO Says Gen Z And Millennials 'Feel The Pinch' And Cooking At Home—'We're Not Losing Them To The Competition…We're Losing Them To Grocery'

Benzinga_recent_news

Jan 13

There's a new kind of ghosting happening in the restaurant world—and it has nothing to do with taste. According to Chipotle CEO Scott Boatwright, younger customers aren't abandoning burritos for rival...

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According to Chipotle CEO Scott Boatwright, younger customers aren't abandoning burritos for rival...</p>\n\n<a href=\"https://www.benzinga.com/personal-finance/management/26/01/49852510/chipotle-ceo-says-gen-z-and-millennials-feel-the-pinch-and-cooking-at-home-were-not-losing-them-to-the-competitionwere-losing-them-to-groc\">Source Link</a>\n\n</div>\n","source":"benzinga_recent_news","html":"<!DOCTYPE html>\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text/html; charset=utf-8\" />\n<meta name=\"viewport\" content=\"width=device-width,initial-scale=1.0,minimum-scale=1.0,maximum-scale=1.0,user-scalable=no\"/>\n<meta name=\"format-detection\" content=\"telephone=no,email=no,address=no\" />\n<title>Chipotle CEO Says Gen Z And Millennials 'Feel The Pinch' And Cooking At Home—'We're Not Losing Them To The Competition…We're Losing Them To Grocery'</title>\n<style type=\"text/css\">\na,abbr,acronym,address,applet,article,aside,audio,b,big,blockquote,body,canvas,caption,center,cite,code,dd,del,details,dfn,div,dl,dt,\nem,embed,fieldset,figcaption,figure,footer,form,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6,header,hgroup,html,i,iframe,img,ins,kbd,label,legend,li,mark,menu,nav,\nobject,ol,output,p,pre,q,ruby,s,samp,section,small,span,strike,strong,sub,summary,sup,table,tbody,td,tfoot,th,thead,time,tr,tt,u,ul,var,video{ font:inherit;margin:0;padding:0;vertical-align:baseline;border:0 }\nbody{ font-size:16px; line-height:1.5; color:#999; background:transparent; }\n.wrapper{ overflow:hidden;word-break:break-all;padding:10px; }\nh1,h2{ font-weight:normal; line-height:1.35; margin-bottom:.6em; }\nh3,h4,h5,h6{ line-height:1.35; margin-bottom:1em; }\nh1{ font-size:24px; }\nh2{ font-size:20px; }\nh3{ font-size:18px; }\nh4{ font-size:16px; }\nh5{ font-size:14px; }\nh6{ font-size:12px; }\np,ul,ol,blockquote,dl,table{ margin:1.2em 0; }\nul,ol{ margin-left:2em; }\nul{ list-style:disc; }\nol{ list-style:decimal; }\nli,li p{ margin:10px 0;}\nimg{ max-width:100%;display:block;margin:0 auto 1em; }\nblockquote{ color:#B5B2B1; border-left:3px solid #aaa; padding:1em; }\nstrong,b{font-weight:bold;}\nem,i{font-style:italic;}\ntable{ width:100%;border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:1px;margin:1em 0;font-size:.9em; }\nth,td{ padding:5px;text-align:left;border:1px solid #aaa; }\nth{ font-weight:bold;background:#5d5d5d; }\n.symbol-link{font-weight:bold;}\n/* header{ border-bottom:1px solid #494756; } */\n.title{ margin:0 0 8px;line-height:1.3;color:#ddd; }\n.meta {color:#5e5c6d;font-size:13px;margin:0 0 .5em; }\na{text-decoration:none; color:#2a4b87;}\n.meta .head { display: inline-block; overflow: hidden}\n.head .h-thumb { width: 30px; height: 30px; margin: 0; padding: 0; border-radius: 50%; float: left;}\n.head .h-content { margin: 0; padding: 0 0 0 9px; float: left;}\n.head .h-name {font-size: 13px; color: #eee; margin: 0;}\n.head .h-time {font-size: 11px; color: #7E829C; margin: 0;line-height: 11px;}\n.small {font-size: 12.5px; display: inline-block; transform: scale(0.9); -webkit-transform: scale(0.9); transform-origin: left; -webkit-transform-origin: left;}\n.smaller {font-size: 12.5px; display: inline-block; transform: scale(0.8); -webkit-transform: scale(0.8); transform-origin: left; -webkit-transform-origin: left;}\n.bt-text {font-size: 12px;margin: 1.5em 0 0 0}\n.bt-text p {margin: 0}\n</style>\n</head>\n<body>\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<header>\n<h2 class=\"title\">\nChipotle CEO Says Gen Z And Millennials 'Feel The Pinch' And Cooking At Home—'We're Not Losing Them To The Competition…We're Losing Them To Grocery'\n</h2>\n\n<h4 class=\"meta\">\n\n\n2026-01-13 01:31 GMT+8&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href=https://www.benzinga.com/personal-finance/management/26/01/49852510/chipotle-ceo-says-gen-z-and-millennials-feel-the-pinch-and-cooking-at-home-were-not-losing-them-to-the-competitionwere-losing-them-to-groc><strong>Benzinga_recent_news</strong></a>\n\n\n</h4>\n\n</header>\n<article>\n<div>\n<p>There's a new kind of ghosting happening in the restaurant world—and it has nothing to do with taste. According to Chipotle CEO Scott Boatwright, younger customers aren't abandoning burritos for rival...</p>\n\n<a href=\"https://www.benzinga.com/personal-finance/management/26/01/49852510/chipotle-ceo-says-gen-z-and-millennials-feel-the-pinch-and-cooking-at-home-were-not-losing-them-to-the-competitionwere-losing-them-to-groc\">Source Link</a>\n\n</div>\n\n\n</article>\n</div>\n</body>\n</html>\n","isBrief":false,"type":0,"news_type":1,"symbol":"HOME","symbol_name":"At Home Group Inc.","start_time":0,"source_url":"https://www.benzinga.com/personal-finance/management/26/01/49852510/chipotle-ceo-says-gen-z-and-millennials-feel-the-pinch-and-cooking-at-home-were-not-losing-them-to-the-competitionwere-losing-them-to-groc","article_id":"2603547789","we_media_id":null,"thumbnails":["https://cdn.benzinga.com/files/images/story/2026/01/12/Rihanna-Johnson-And-Asher-Nicholson--Sen.jpeg?optimize=medium&dpr=2&auto=webp&width=240"],"rights":{"source":"benzinga_recent_news","url":"https://www.benzinga.com/personal-finance/management/26/01/49852510/chipotle-ceo-says-gen-z-and-millennials-feel-the-pinch-and-cooking-at-home-were-not-losing-them-to-the-competitionwere-losing-them-to-groc","rn_cache_url":null,"directOrigin":true},"url":"https://stock-news.laohu8.com/highlight/detail?id=2603547789","pubTimestamp":1768239060,"columns":[],"sourceInfo":{"source_id":"benzinga_recent_news","name":"Benzinga"},"weMediaInfo":null,"summary":"There's a new kind of ghosting happening in the restaurant world—and it has nothing to do with taste. According to Chipotle CEO Scott Boatwright, younger customers aren't abandoning burritos for rival chains. They're abandoning restaurants altogether.Speaking during the company's October earnings call, Boatwright laid out the shift plainly. \"We're not losing them to the competition,\" he said. \"We're losing them to grocery and food at home.\". The pressure doesn't stop there. Boatwright also pointed to households earning under $100,000 a year, which make up about 40% of Chipotle's sales. That group, he said, has pulled back on dining frequency even more sharply, contributing to what he described as a broad slowdown in transactions.Instead, Chipotle plans to focus on execution, menu innovation, and communicating value more clearly. Boatwright noted that Chipotle's pricing has tracked closer to food at home than food away from home, and that its meals remain 20–30% cheaper than many peers.","collect":0,"end_time":0,"defaultTopTitle":"benzinga.com","property":[],"viewcount":null,"language":"en","relate_stocks":{"HOME":"At Home Group Inc."},"translate_title":"Chipotle首席执行官表示，Z世代和千禧一代“感到手头拮据”，在家做饭——“我们不会把他们输给竞争对手……我们会把他们输给杂货店”","themeId":null,"isJumpTheme":false,"ttsUrl":null,"symbols_score_info":{"HOME":1.5},"content_text":"There's a new kind of ghosting happening in the restaurant world—and it has nothing to do with taste. According to Chipotle CEO Scott Boatwright, younger customers aren't abandoning burritos for rival chains. They're abandoning restaurants altogether.\nSpeaking during the company's October earnings call, Boatwright laid out the shift plainly. \"We're not losing them to the competition,\" he said. \"We're losing them to grocery and food at home.\"\nThat change is most visible among diners ages 25 to 35, a group that accounts for roughly 25% of Chipotle's customer base. Boatwright said those customers are facing a combination of unemployment pressure, student loan repayment, and slower real wage growth—factors that make eating out an easy expense to cut.\nDon't Miss:\n\"They feel the pinch,\" Boatwright said. \"We feel the pullback from them as well.\"\nThe pressure doesn't stop there. Boatwright also pointed to households earning under $100,000 a year, which make up about 40% of Chipotle's sales. That group, he said, has pulled back on dining frequency even more sharply, contributing to what he described as a broad slowdown in transactions.\nWhat's notable is what he did not say. This isn't about fading brand loyalty. \"It shows we are gaining market share,\" Boatwright told analysts. In other words, Chipotle isn't losing customers to Taco Bell or Shake Shack—it's losing visits to tighter household budgets.\nThat distinction matters because it points to a bigger shift in the economy. For years, a $100,000 household income was treated as a kind of financial finish line. Today, it increasingly sits in a gray zone—above the median income, but far from insulated.\nTrending: Americans With a Financial Plan Can 4X Their Wealth — Get Your Personalized Plan from a CFP Pro\nAccording to the Income Paradox Survey — November 2025, conducted by The Harris Poll, even higher earners are cutting back on basics. Among households earning $100,000 or more annually, 41% say they are either currently skipping meals or planning to do so to make ends meet.\nThat helps explain why grocery stores are winning share from restaurants. Even households that look comfortable on paper are reassessing everyday spending, swapping convenience for control and dining out for meals at home. Chipotle may still be cheaper than many fast‑casual peers, but when budgets tighten, the comparison isn't restaurant versus restaurant—it's restaurant versus groceries.\nBoatwright acknowledged the challenge, describing \"a broad-based pullback in frequency\" and \"slowing transaction trends\" across the business. Still, he made clear the company won't chase traffic with discounts. \"Value as a price point is not and will not be a Chipotle strategy,\" he said.\nInstead, Chipotle plans to focus on execution, menu innovation, and communicating value more clearly. Boatwright noted that Chipotle's pricing has tracked closer to food at home than food away from home, and that its meals remain 20–30% cheaper than many peers. The strategy is to stay positioned as an affordable option—even as consumers rethink what \"affordable\" really means.\nSee Also: Invest in a Gaming Marketplace Backed by Early Zynga and PayPal Investors— From $300.\nFor households earning around or above $100,000, that reassessment is becoming more common. Income alone no longer guarantees breathing room, especially with housing, food, and debt costs eating up a larger share of paychecks.\nBut this is where planning matters. For professionals and households earning $100,000 or more, Domain Money offers personalized financial planning led by lprofessionals who help people navigate exactly these trade‑offs. Through free strategy sessions, Domain helps clients look beyond salary headlines and build plans around cash flow, spending priorities, and long‑term goals—so short‑term pullbacks don't turn into long‑term stress.\nBoatwright framed the moment as one to refocus rather than retreat. The company, he said, is working to \"get back to consistent share gains\" as conditions stabilize.\nBut the takeaway reaches far beyond burritos. When even six‑figure households are skipping meals and cooking more at home, it's a signal that the economy's pressure points have shifted. And right now, the toughest competition for restaurants isn't another chain—it's the household budget itself.\nRead Next: Forget Flipping Houses—This Fund Lets You Invest in Home Equity Like Wall Street Does\nImage: Imagn","kind":"highlight","is_publish_news":true,"is_publish_highlight":false,"is_publish_live":false,"is_publish_wemedia":null,"editions":null,"column":"","sentiment":"0","news_tag":"","news_rank":0,"symbols":[],"gpt_button":0,"need_auth":false,"code":"91000000","status":"200"}}}