Free queso for one and for all! Customers who visit a Chipotle (NYSE:CMG) Restaurant on Tuesday, December 12, wearing their “cheesiest” sweater, will receive a side of queso with their order.
The Mexican food chain’s take on the melted cheese dish will be given to anyone who orders wearing a “cheesy” sweater – but just what “cheesy” means in terms of sweaters has been up in debate, Chipotle being rather vague about the concept. It’s been narrowed down in terms of “your cheesiest holiday sweater.” So, ugly Christmas sweater anybody?
Chipotle’s queso hasn’t exactly received the warmest of welcomes when it was first released. The company’s first attempt at queso received a barrage of Twitter reactions, calling it “gritty” and a “crime against cheese” that “tastes like crayons.”
Initially, Chipotle claimed it was the all-natural ingredients that made the queso that way, but the company has since revamped its recipe.
The new, and hopefully improved, Chipotle queso “is creamier than the initial recipe, and still has a really delicious flavor,” while also still leaving out preservatives and artificial ingredients. Hopefully it also no longer tastes like crayons – not even a free version is worth that.
Some people have said they would prefer free guacamole instead, but unfortunately for them “the promotion only covers queso.”
Despite the somewhat negative reviews of its cheese dip, Chipotle says that its sales have benefitted from the new menu item. Sales for the last quarter were up 17%, ending at long last the pattern of decline Chipotle has been experiencing recently.
“This new menu item not only increased sales with existing customers, it also attracted new and lapsed customers into our restaurants,” said Chipotle’s chief marketing officer Mark Crumpacker. He added that “About 19% of these new and returning customers are trying queso, while many of the others were simply driven in by the advertising.”
Perhaps the allure of free queso will be enough to bring in customers wary of Chipotle’s food contamination streak from the past few years. Me? I’m still hesitant.
Featured Image: Depositphotos/© Studiobarcelona
