Chipotle offers free burritos to win back business and announces plans commit $10million to help local farmers

In a bid to win over inconvenienced customers on Monday, Chipotle offered free 'raincheck' burritos following its company-wide shutdown as more than 50,000 its employees gathered for a meeting to discuss food safety procedures.

Posters on Chipotle store windows offered the complimentary burrito to customers who could not get lunch while the chain kept all of its U.S. locations closed during the presentation for workers.

During the meeting, which took place during prime lunchtime hours, Chipotle announced that it would spend about $10 million to help local farmers adhere to the company's new safety measures.

A Chipotle fan reads a sign telling customers that the Pittsburgh's Market Square restaurant is closed for lunch due to an employee meeting on food safety held on Monday

Posters on Chipotle store windows offered the complimentary burrito to customers who could not get lunch while the chain kept all of its U.S. locations closed during the presentation for workers 

On Monday, Chipotle also announced that it plans to commit up to $10 million to help local farms meet its food safety standards and to make more local ingredients available across the country

'We have supported local farms around the country for a number of years because we believe it is the right thing to do,' Chipotle founder, co-CEO, and chairman Steve Ells said in a news release. 

'We recognize that it may make it difficult for some local farms to comply with our heightened standards, but we are looking to help local farmers comply with our standards and to continue our support for local farms and rural communities around the country.'

The Chipotle Local Grower Support Initiative will offer the support and education necessary to meet the company's high standards and help offset the costs of enhanced testing and food safety practices for some smaller farmers in the form of grants or premiums, the company said.

Chipotle said that last year, its U.S. restaurants served more than 30 million pounds of produced sourced from local farmers, about 12 per cent of the produce used in their restaurants.

Monday's meeting for employees, which comes after Chipotle has been slammed by a series of food scares, was broadcast live at hundreds of theaters and hotel conference rooms around the country.

Co-CEO Monty Moran noted that two of the four incidents had been the result of norovirus, which is typically caused by sick workers.

'If you're feeling sick, especially if you've vomited, whether at work or at home, you need to let your manager or your field leader know right away,' Moran said in a broadcast from a restaurant in Denver. 

Chipotle employees are pictured signing in for a food safety meeting on Monday at a movie theater in New York

Steve Ells, founder, co-CEO, and chairman of Chipotle Mexican Grill, appears via video conference at a New York movie theater as he speaks from Denver to employees nationwide on Monday 

Chipotle co-CEO Monty Moran (pictured) said: 'If you're feeling sick, especially if you've vomited, whether at work or at home, you need to let your manager or your field leader know right away'

With an estimated 50,000 employees in attendance to view the presentation that lasted more than an hour, Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. postponed opening its restaurants for four hours until 3pm. 

As a peace offering to inconvenienced customers, Chipotle said it was offering free burritos to people who text in a code to the company. 

Moran urged employees to be 'incredibly hospitable' to customers as the company pushes to win back business.

'We need you to be your very best,' he said.

Excerpts of the meeting were broadcast over Twitter Inc's live-streaming app Periscope and in tweets. The meeting started at 11 am and restaurants opened at 3pm. 

Chipotle is trying to bounce back from plunging sales since an E. coli outbreak came to light in late October, and a separate norovirus incident in December. 

The declines have persisted, with January sales down 36 percent at restaurants open at least 13 months.

To work through the crisis, Chipotle has hired Rubenstein Public Relations, which helped organize the national worker meeting. 

The Denver company said employees watched the presentation at more than 400 locations around the country.

Chipotle employee Kevin Ortiz, center, arrives at a New York movie theater to listen to a video conference for the fast food chain on Monday

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. postponed opening its restaurants for four hours Monday, to 3 p.m. local time

In New York City, employees filed into two theaters inside Regal Cinemas in Union Square. Many had orange pieces of paper on which they had been told to take notes, though that proved difficult in rooms darkened during the presentation. Employees, who were paid for attending, said they were told to come wearing their uniforms.

In a short video, employees were told to watch for symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, explosive diarrhea, yellowing of the skin and eyes and dark urine.

'When anyone vomits in the back of the house or the front line, this is a red event, which means we close the restaurant immediately,' said Gretchen Selfridge, a Chipotle restaurant support officer.

Executives also covered procedural changes that ranged from handwashing rules and the marinating of meat, to centralized locations where tomatoes and lettuce are chopped. During a brief question-and-answer period in which Chipotle selected screened questions, one employee asked whether the company planned to start chopping vegetables in restaurants again.

When the question appeared onscreen, employees in New York City groaned. One said upon leaving that cutting vegetables in stores is hard work.

How long it takes Chipotle to bounce back remains to be seen.

Last week, the chain reported its first decline in quarterly same-store sales as a public company, hurt by a sharp drop in customer visits due to the outbreaks.

Chipotle's shares closed down 3.3 per cent on Monday, compared with a 1.4 per cent decline in the S&P 500 index.

More than 50,000 of its employees were in attendance to view Monday's presentation inconveniencing some customers who wanted Chipotle for lunch. The company said on its website customers could get a free burrito if they texted 'RAINCHECK' to 888-222

Above a message the company tweeted following the end of the meeting. It is trying to bounce back from plunging sales since an E. coli outbreak came to light in late October, and a separate norovirus incident in December

Other companies hit by food scares have taken about a year or more to recover, Chipotle executives note, though they acknowledge that their situation may differ because it involved more than one incident, and they received intense exposure in both social and mass media.

In the meantime, Chipotle has said it does not plan to slow down its rate of new store openings. Chipotle already has more than 2,000 locations, primarily in the U.S. 

It tweeted on Monday: 'We'll be live-tweeting our national employee meeting today to discuss recent and future food safety. And we'll be on #Periscope at 12pm EST.'

Workers getting paid sick leave is part of the company's overhaul, according to CNN Money.  

CNN reported that in 2015, approximately 500 people became ill. 

Chipotle is also facing a federal criminal investigation.

Now the company is plotting a comeback, with its largest marketing campaign yet to start this week. 

Chipotle says on its website customers can get a free burrito if they text 'RAINCHECK' to 888-222.

'If we messed up your lunch plans today, follow the steps and we'll hook you up,' it says. 

The offer is valid from 11am to 6pm EST Monday and a coupon for the burrito should be sent within 10 days, according to the company.  

Now Chipotle is plotting a comeback, with its largest marketing campaign yet to start this week

Four other chains - Freshii, On the Border, Moe's Southwest Grill, and Taco Bell - were offering promotions during the time Chipotle was closed, Time Money reported.

Moe's, according to Time Money, said: 'Not only is Moe's Southwest Grill open on February 8, we're also offering a Buy One, Get One deal so you and your friend or colleague can enjoy the best rebound burrito on the market – complete with all the free chips and salsa you can pack in.'

On Monday, Moe's tweeted a Vine video of someone dressed as a burrito working out.

The company wrote: 'Today's gonna be crazy, but we've prepared like a champ. #WelcomeToMoes.'

Taco Bell stores meanwhile began selling its 'Quesalupa,' which was advertised during the Super Bowl. 

The product was previously part of a blind pre-order campaign, Time Money noted.

Freshii announced January 22: 'To help American consumers through these dark hours, healthy fast-casual food leader Freshii is offering a fiesta of half-priced Mexican-inspired menu items all day Monday.

'Freshii will discount all Mexican fare at its 200 participating locations in 80-plus cities in 15 countries.'

On the Border tweeted Monday: 'TODAY ONLY! $5 Border Bowls & #Burrito Boxes! #CHIPSnSALSA included.'

Four other chains - Freshii, On the Border, Moe's Southwest Grill, and Taco Bell - were offering promotions on Monday