It's What's Not in the Sour Cream that Counts.

Chipotle Mexican Grill's Sour Cream Goes rBGH-Free

DENVER -- When Chipotle Mexican Grill began purchasing naturally raised pork some five years ago, it launched a vision the company calls "Food with Integrity," and started an incremental revolution aimed at finding better alternatives for every ingredient it uses. The latest step in its quest for better ingredients: sour cream that's free of the synthetic hormone rBGH in all of its more than 530 restaurants.

While a hormone called bovine somatotropin is naturally occurring in all cattle, rBGH, or recombinant bovine somatotropin, is a synthetic hormone given to dairy cattle to stimulate milk production. rBGH works by increasing levels of Insulin Growth Factor (IGF), a naturally occurring hormone.

"We are always looking for ways to improve the quality of the ingredients we use and the taste of our food - it's how we're changing the way people think about and eat fast-food," said Steve Ells, Chipotle's founder, chairman and CEO. "With each improvement we make, we are looking towards the next step in providing the best ingredients, knowing progress comes one step at a time."

To source the rBGH-free sour cream, Chipotle worked closely with its primary supplier - Daisy Brand - to establish a regional network of dairy farms that are committed to keeping their cattle free of added hormones.

"We have long favored an approach to farming that emphasizes care over chemicals," said Ells. "We believe that the energy and effort that goes in to raising these animals in the most natural way possible really translates in the quality and great taste of the food."

Chipotle has long been a proponent of natural and sustainably raised foods. This commitment to better foods is part of the company's carefully articulated and implemented vision called "Food with Integrity," and is most visible in its use of naturally raised meats.

Since 2002, Chipotle has served naturally raised pork (pork that comes from pigs fed a pure vegetarian diet, never given hormones or antibiotics, and raised on open pastures or in deeply bedded barns) in all of its restaurants. Today nearly 60 percent of the chicken it serves is also naturally raised, as is more than a third of its beef. Already buying more naturally raised meat than any restaurant in the country, the company remains steadfast in its efforts to increase the amount of naturally raised chicken and beef as additional supply becomes available.

In addition to its use of naturally raised meat and the new addition of rBGH-free sour cream, Chipotle has also started buying organic beans. This year, about 25 percent of the beans it buys will be organically grown, up from 20 percent a year ago. Chipotle will continue to add to this percentage as additional supply becomes available. The company is also working with its cheese suppliers and hopes to use only milk from cows not treated with rBGH for its cheese in 2007.

"It has been and will always be a continuous process for us to work towards the goal of being able to source a completely sustainable menu," said Monty Moran, the company's president and chief operating officer. "Food with Integrity is our daily focus, and we are constantly looking for better and healthier food choices so that our customers feel as good about eating our food as we do serving it."

About Chipotle

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG)(NYSE:CMGB) offers a focused menu of burritos, tacos, burrito bols (a burrito without the tortilla) and salads made from fresh, high-quality raw ingredients, prepared using classic cooking methods and served in a distinctive atmosphere. Through our vision of Food with Integrity, Chipotle is seeking better food not only from a variety of fresh ingredients, but ingredients that are sustainably grown and naturally raised with respect for animals, the land, and the farmers who produce the food. Chipotle opened its first restaurant in 1993 and operates more than 530 restaurants today. For more information, visit www.chipotle.com.