Chipotle might be offering discounted prices in 2017 to save themselves

Chipotle came up short on profit projections in 2016, which is boring business speak that could affect our wallets in 2017.

When you hear that a business lost profits, came up short on projections or anything else that seems like it needs a pie chart to explain, our eyes glaze over. It’s boring and unless you’re a stock holder, there’s little to care about.

But there’s something to pay attention to when a business comes up short on projections, as it could end up affecting our pocketbooks should we choose to continue being consumers at said business.

Chipotle, who had a rough year, is one of those businesses.

According to Business Insider, Chipotle doubled way the hell down on it’s claim that an avocado shortage wasn’t going to be an issue. While they kept their promise that the shortage wouldn’t affect the prevalence of guacamole in stores, the company ended up paying a steep premium to get their hands on avocados.

It’s also cited that the expense of television ads played a role in the projections for the final quarter of the year coming up way short.

That all sounds boring, and you’re not wrong. But as consumers we shouldn’t concerned with profit margins and projections so much as we should be what it means for us in 2017. Chipotle is still reeling from that E. coli breakout that damaged the reputation of the company. With profits hurting compared to where they were projected to be, one of two things will happen.

We could see Chipotle panic and then try to recoup profit projections at our expense. That’s usually how things work in this situation. The better option is that Chipotle uses a garbage end to a cruddy year to make their business more desirable to the marketplace. This could mean fairer pricing, more menu options or other benefits to the consumer.

We’re only a week into the new year, so it’s hard to tell what will happen. But pay attention to Chipotle in the second quarter of the year (around March and April) to see if things change.