Coalition targets Chipotle's tomato farmers

News staff and wire reports

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

A farmworker group that ran a successful workers’ rights campaign against Taco Bell has begun pressuring Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. to buy tomatoes from suppliers who the group says take proper care of laborers and pay fair wages.

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers in Florida has accused the casual dining restaurant chain of buying tomatoes from growers who have mistreated workers and paid substandard wages. Chipotle said Tuesday the Immokalee farms that supply the chain tomatoes are in compliance with standards.

The campaign against Denver-based Chipotle is part of the coalition’s effort to improve wages and conditions for laborers.

Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold said Wednesday the burrito-chain adheres to industry standards, and they impose their code of conduct.

He also said only buy about 20 percent of their tomatoes from Florida, and the Florida growers they use all of whom agree to adhere to the code.

"Just because an activist group doesn’t like what we’re doing, it doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with what we’re doing," Arnold said. "Not all tomato growers are the same. They’re painting all of the Florida tomato industry with the same brush."

After a four-year coalition boycott, Taco Bell’s parent company, Yum! Brands Inc., agreed in 2005 to pay a penny more per pound for tomatoes with the money passed to workers who pick the crop that is sold to Taco Bell.

The coalition also has joined a national farmworker organization in lodging similar accusations against the Oak Brook, Ill.-based McDonald’s, which previously owned Chipotle but has begun divesting its shares of the company. McDonald’s has said it is reviewing the accusations.

"The reason we’ve chosen Chipotle is because they’ve said very clearly that they believe in honest foods," coalition employee Julia Perkins said. "We’d like to give them the opportunity to see that the human beings in their food supply chain are also afforded humane treatment."

Chipotle executives believe the company, which promotes its fresh food products, has been singled out because of its relationship with McDonald’s.

About 5 percent of its supply of tomatoes comes from Immokalee farms which are all in compliance, Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold said. "It’s unfortunate the group has painted an entire industry with the same brush," he said.

Restaurant industry analysts speculated that Chipotle has been targeted because of its growing popularity or its emphasis on "food with integrity." "They’re going to have to respond, given the high visibility they have achieved," said Ron Paul, president of Chicago restaurant consulting firm Technomic.