Senior advisor, Chipotle Mexican Grill
Search every verified John Hartung interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. John Hartung, president and chief strategy officer of Chipotle Mexican Grill, appeared on CNBC's "Mad Money" on October 2, 2024, alongside interim CEO Scott Boatwright. Hartung discussed the company's transition following former CEO Brian Niccol's departure, stating that the leadership change was "one of the smoothest and easiest" and attributed the company's resilience to its focus on premium ingredients, affordable prices, and attractive markets. He noted that Chipotle has grown from roughly 80,000 to over 120,000 employees and is pursuing a path to 7,000 restaurants in North America, with international expansion including new locations in Kuwait and Dubai. Hartung also addressed consumer spending, saying the company watches consumer response closely and will not give up on affordability because "we don't just want some people to enjoy Chipotle, we want everybody." In previous appearances, Hartung discussed the company's investment in employees. In an April 2021 interview on CNBC's "Closing Bell," he described an expansion of Chipotle's debt-free degree program to ten universities, calling it "just the next step" in a company that "will always invest in our people." He characterized the cost of such programs as an "asset and an investment" that pays off over time. In a December 2020 interview with Jim Cramer, Hartung and then-CEO Brian Niccol discussed the company's turnaround from food safety scandals, with Hartung noting that the company was working with other countries like Peru and Colombia to manage avocado supply volatility while maintaining freshness.
“Chipotle is a purpose to cultivate a better world and the folks in this organization, I'm talking about from the top, through me to our leadership team, all the way down to the group, we spend a lot of time in the restaurants before we came here — everyone believes in this purpose.”
“I have been with the organization, leading the operations organization for over seven years now and we have grown the brand from 2,300 restaurants to roughly 3,500 restaurants today.”
“What I am most excited about, Jim, is the future and where we are going — we're in the early innings and on our path to 7,000 restaurants in North America and through international expansion.”
“Our first license agreement is with a group that we are very happy with — we have two restaurants opening in Kuwait and the first location in Dubai tomorrow.”
“We have a world‑class people organization that has really been driving and executing against our strategies for the past several years, and it has served us exceptionally well.”
“I've been talking about those three things — premium ingredients, affordable prices and attractive markets — for the last 20‑something years, and the fact that our team remembers it is more important than me remembering it.”
“We have gone from around 80,000 total employees to just over 120,000 today, and our team members are the absolute backbone of this great organization.”
“We watch consumer response very closely throughout the country and continue to have very strong value scores — we won't give up on affordable because we don't just want some people to enjoy Chipotle, we want everybody.”
“I think starting with a vision could be a very humble vision is important because people want to work for something bigger than themselves. Yes people work for a paycheck you've got to pay the bills you know we've got rent we've got mortgage we've got car payments and things like that but when there's something bigger...”
“There's two main reasons why Chipotle does and will probably continue to trade at a higher multiple than McDonald's. First of all McDonald's now is it franchises most most of its restaurants okay we run more Chipotles in the US than McDonald's does they've got 13 or 14 thousand restaurants they only run about 1500 we r...”
Chipotle Interim CEO Scott Boatwright and President Jack Hartung join 'Mad Money' host Jim Cramer to talk Chipotle's new chapter following former CEO Brian Niccol's departure.
Chipotle announced it will be offering eligible employees debt-free degrees in agriculture, culinary, and hospitality management in partnership with education company Guild Education. Chipotle CFO Jack Hartung joins 'Closing Bell' to discuss. For access to live and exclusive video from CNBC subscribe to CNBC PRO: https://cnb.cx/2NGeIvi » Subscribe to CNBC TV: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBCtelevision » Subscribe to CNBC: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBC » Subscribe to CNBC Classic: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBCclassic Turn to CNBC TV for the latest stock market news and analysis. From market futur…
"Mad Money's" Jim Cramer gets insight into Chipotle's revamped business strategies with CEO Brian Niccol and CFO John ...
On Wednesday April 11th, the Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) welcomed Jack Hartung, Chief Financial Officer of ...
Sign in to search the full transcript archive, filter by topic, and access every quote from John Hartung.
The summary and quote tags on this profile are produced with AI assistance from verified, first-person interview transcripts, then checked by our team to confirm the speaker's identity and the accuracy of every quote. See how we verify →