This post has been updated.
Chipotle issued a dire warning last month — if severe weather patterns hold up, it may be forced to stop serving guacamole due to rising prices.
“Increasing weather volatility or other long-term changes in global weather patterns, including any changes associated with global climate change, could have a significant impact on the price or availability of some of our ingredients,” the food chain wrote in a report released in February, according to Think Progress.
“In the event of cost increases with respect to one or more of our raw ingredients we may choose to temporarily suspend serving menu items, such as guacamole or one or more of our salsas, rather than paying the increased cost for the ingredients.”
The avocado industry has not been severely impacted by climate change yet, but could be in the next few years, according to Think Progress. Chipotle uses about 35.4 million pounds of avocados each year.
Chipotle also said that its food markets “are generally smaller and more concentrated than the markets for commodity food products,” which could make the company more vulnerable to climate and price changes.
On Wednesday, Chipotle assured that it would not stop serving guacamole anytime soon.
“This is strictly routine ‘risk factor’ language as part of the annual financial disclosure,” a Chipotle spokesman told Business Insider in an email.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/chipotle-comments-on-guacamole-2014-3#ixzz2v6QraEIu
