It’s 11:20 a.m. on Tuesday at Chipotle’s South Portland location and there is already a line of customers 10-deep waiting to place orders. It looks like business as usual.

But the quarterly financial report released Feb. 2 tells a different story. Rocked by bad publicity caused by a series of E. coli cases in several states last fall and a norovirus outbreak in Boston in December, Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc.’s net income plummeted 44 percent in the fourth quarter – sales at comparable restaurants were down 14.6 percent in the fourth quarter. The company closed all its restaurants Monday to train employees on safe food-handling practices.

Yet the two restaurants in greater Portland seem to be hopping.

The chain has grown quickly for over a decade because of an ardent fan base. From 2005 to 2014, Chipotle grew at a 20 percent compound annual growth rate. Despite the drop in sales in the fourth quarter of 2015, the chain’s annual revenue was still up 9.6 percent over 2014, increasing to $4.5 billion.

Tim Demers grimaced a little and then laughed outside Westbrook’s Chipotle location when asked how often he gets a burrito. At least a couple times a week, he said.

Demers has remained loyal even though the company closed 43 stores in Washington and Oregon last fall after at least 52 people got sick from exposure to E. coli. Then a norovirus outbreak in Boston was traced to a Chipotle location at Cleveland Circle. Officials said 141 people were sickened.

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That shook Demers’ faith.

“About three weeks ago, I went and said something to (store workers here) about it, and they assured me it was very safe,” Demers said. “But it’s a little disconcerting to know the reason people were getting sick.”

Still, he was hurrying into the Westbrook location Tuesday to get his burrito fix. He was hardly alone.

Emily Hinman says she was one of the first Chipotle customers in Maine. On the day the South Portland location opened, she ate her usual – chicken burrito bowl with white rice, mild salsa, guacamole and black beans.

DISMAYED BUT NOT SURPRISED

Hinman heard about the norovirus outbreak in Boston and was dismayed but not surprised. A manager at the Boston location knowingly allowed a sick employee finish his shift, reportedly exposing people to the virus. Both the manager and employee were fired.

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Though concerned by the incident, Hinman wasn’t worried about eating at Chipotle in Maine. It could have happened anywhere, she said.

“In our culture, it’s emphasized to be at work. We need the money. And we push to the limit of being at work when we shouldn’t be,” she said. “We don’t take care of ourselves and our employees the way we should.”

Linda Varrell, owner of Broadreach Public Relations in Portland and a specialist in disaster recovery, isn’t surprised Chipotle customers are defending the company. Varrell says Chipotle’s focus on getting local, organic suppliers solidifies its fan base, but also makes it more difficult for the chain to oversee quality. As food gets more local, she says, problems with quality could become more common.

The food industry isn’t the only one with quality control problems.

“That happens in a lot of different industries,” Varrell said. “It could be a breach in a bank or an infection in a hospital.

“Getting down to (knowing) what is wrong and pinpointing it is very important. It goes back to: What are you going to do in response? It bodes well for an organization to make sure they have some plans in place because, sooner or later, something bad is going to happen.”

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RESTRUCTURING FOOD SAFETY EFFORT

Chipotle’s reaction has been to restructure its food safety programs. Long-hailed for supporting local agriculture, the company says it now wants to be considered a leader in food safety. But rebuilding the brand will take some time, company co-CEO Monty Moran said in the press release accompanying fourth-quarter earnings.

“2016 will be a very difficult year relative to our past performance,” Moran said. “But, by staying true to our food culture and unique people culture, and layering on our rigorous food safety program, we are confident that we are now in a position to aggressively welcome customers into our restaurants and restore customer confidence in the things that make Chipotle great.”

Chipotle didn’t open any of its nearly 2,000 stores across the country until 3 p.m. Monday as it held a company-wide meeting to discuss food safety and address questions from employees.

As part of the effort to bring back customers, the company introduced a short-lived promotion during the hours it was closed. Customers affected by the closures – or those who heard about the deal in time – were offered a free burrito if they texted the company or filled out an online form.

Varrell hailed the maneuver as a “smart move” for restoring trust in the company.

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Outside the South Portland store Tuesday, customer Valerie Johnstone laughed about the promotion. She doesn’t go to Chipotle that often, she said, but she wasn’t worried about getting a free burrito – nor about any health concerns with the food.

“Me and my brother were texting yesterday and I made a joke about it,” she said. “I said, ‘Man, I missed my chance for free E. coli.’

“I probably should be more worried about it, but I’m not.”

James Patrick can be contacted at 791- 6382 or at:

jpatrick@pressherald.com


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