(Bloomberg) -- Chipotle Mexican GrillInc., seeking to recover from an E. coli crisis that draggeddown sales and profit, will start a program aimed at helpingsuppliers maintain food-safety standards.
|Chipotle is spending as much as $10 million to fund the effort,co-Chief Executive Officer Steve Ells said during a meeting withemployees on Monday. The money will be used to help local farmersoffset the costs of new tests and food-safety protocols, hesaid.
|“The money will be used to provide safety support and educationthat’s necessary to meet our standards,” he said in a clip that wasbroadcast via the Periscope app.
|Chipotle has been struggling to regain its footing following anE. coli outbreak that sickened dozens and brought attention toprevious cases of customers getting sick. The crisis has batteredChipotle stock price and crushed its sales, which dropped 36% inJanuary.
|Chipotle has apologized for making customers ill and updated itsprotocols, saying the changes will make the restaurant chain anindustry leader in food safety. The company has insisted that itcan regain its sales and margins, with a marketing pitch aimed atluring customers back to its restaurants slated to kick off thismonth.
|The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recentlyannounced its investigation into the E. coli outbreak hadconcluded, briefly giving investors hope that the worst was behindChipotle. But the chain also faces a criminal probe that stems from a norovirusoutbreak in August at one of its restaurants inCalifornia.
|Chipotle temporarily closed all its storeson Monday to hold the meeting with employees. They arescheduled to reopen at 3 p.m. local time.
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