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Chicken is winning over beef at Chipotle.
In a second-quarter earnings call on Wednesday, the burrito chain’s finance chief, Adam Rymer, said customers are opting for lower-priced meats at their outlets.
The company reported a total revenue increase of 3% in the latest quarter compared to the year before, with sales of $3.1 billion. But same-store sales dropped 4%.
Answering a question about same-store sales trends, Rymer said, “There’s also been a little bit of a shift to lower-priced entrées, so think of that as your steak and barbacoa customers shifting a little bit more to chicken than we’ve seen, kind of, in the past.”
Rymer also added that same-store sales were down because customers were visiting the outlets in smaller group sizes.
Chipotle’s steak and barbacoa proteins hold a roughly $2 premium over its chicken option.
Chicken is rising in the ranks to become the most popular protein source in the US. Poultry — which includes chicken, egg, and turkey products — is the most consumed animal protein in the US, per a 2024 report by the US Department of Agriculture.
Food brands are seeing their chicken products perform well and are leaning harder into the protein.
Rymer said Chipotle’s limited-time-only honey chicken, launched in March, was a favorite among customers, with one in every four guests ordering it.
In February 2024, McDonald’s CEO, Chris Kempczinski, said the company was making as much money from its chicken products as it was from beef burgers.
In June, McDonald’s relaunched its cult favorite Snack Wrap menu items, which it had stopped selling in 2016. It faced competition from fried chicken chain Popeyes, which lowered the price of its chicken wrap during the same period.
Taco Bell brought back its chicken nuggets for a limited time in April, and plans to make crispy chicken a permanent fixture in its menu by 2026.
And Din Tai Fung’s North America CEOs told BI that they started offering chicken-based versions of their iconic pork soup dumplings from Taiwan, because it was the protein of choice in the US.
Chipotle’s stock had dipped nearly 10% in after-hours trading early Thursday morning.
Representatives of Chipotle did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
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