Same size bowl

By Editor | July 3, 2024

The Bible and the Headlines: News You Can Us

By David Bachelor, PhD

In May there was a Tik Tok-influenced movement to film workers at a certain restaurant chain as they prepared the customer’s order. The filming’s goal was to guarantee a generous portion of each ingredient. This week a business analyst decided to objectively determine whether portion sizes at these establishments were as subjective as Tik Tok implied. The analyst’s results form the backbone of a story in this week’s headlines.

On June 28th CNN published, “An Analyst Ordered 75 Chipotle Burrito Bowls to Test Portion Sizes.” The article explained how the analyst was trying, “… to decisively settle the Chipotle burrito ‘weight debate.’” The researcher was aware of Tik Tok’s “Chipotle phone method” to increase the size of scoops used by employees to construct an order. He also knew Chipotle employees feel stressed by this trend. The analyst shunned the ‘phone method’ because his team wanted to measure portion sizes given by employees who were not under coercion.

Fortune published “A Wells Fargo Analyst Ordered the Same Chipotle Burrito Bowl 75 Times and Found the Portion Problem Is Real” on June 28th. While the byline is different than CNN’s article, it is a continuation of the previous piece. Detailing how the study purchased half the orders in-person and the rest online, the article observes that the median weight of a burrito bowl ordered in person or online were very similar. The disparity came at the extremes of the sampled bowls: “For in-person orders, the heaviest bowl weighed 47% more than the lightest. The weight varied even more for digital orders, with the heaviest bowl weighing 87% more than the lightest bowl.” One New York franchise scored consistently in the “light” category for both in-person and online orders.

An edited version of CNN’s article appeared in Entrepreneur Magazine on June 28th as, “Wells Fargo Analysts Tested 75 Bowls at Chipotle — and the Portion Sizes Were Wildly Inconsistent.” Entrepreneur listed the bowls’ ingredients as white rice, black beans, chicken, pico de gallo, cheese, and lettuce. In 75 productions of this ensemble, “Some locations offered the bowl at a hefty 27 ounces while another only came in at 14 ounces — all from the same menu and prepared in the same way.” Chipotle’s CEO said the company strives to give customers big portions, so they are excited about their meal.

Before God’s people had a land of their own, God talked to them a lot about consistency in “portion sizes.” God told the priests who collected the agricultural offerings at the temple, “‘Do not use dishonest standards when measuring length, weight or quantity” (Lev 19:35). Moses, in his good-bye speech, reminded the people of God’s command, “Do not have two differing weights in your bag—one heavy, one light. Do not have two differing measures in your house—one large, one small” (Deu 25:13-14). Centuries later God told the Israelites that He would judge them because they said, “We can’t wait for the holiday to be over so the stores can again skimp on the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales … selling even the sweepings with the wheat (Amos 8:5-6).

Dishonesty was not a charge levelled at Chipotle in any of the articles. However, these 75 bowls and their disparate weights proved the chain has no common system of weights and measures. Maybe Tik Tok’s ‘phone method” would go away if everyone received the same portion in their burrito bowls. I’m sure the employees would appreciate a standardized system that did not require them to make judgment calls with every scoop.

Posted in Lifestyles