We were quick to jump on the news a few weeks ago when Chipotle announced that they would be banning GMOs from their menu, attempting to gauge whether the move would attract new diners. This led to a second wave of analysis into Chipotle’s long history of living and dying by the sword of foodie PR. Time will tell if the GMO announcement pans out.
Then, Taco Bell entered the healthy food PR fray, announcing just two days ago that they would be removing artificial colors, flavors, and added trans fats from their menu.
We immediately began surveying consumers about the topic, in the hopes of measuring how Taco Bell’s move might compare to Chipotle’s. Here’s what we found.
A full 36% of respondents said they would be more likely to patronize a restaurant that banned artificial ingredients and added trans fats. 46% said it wouldn’t affect them one way or another.
How does this compare to GMOs? Let’s revisit our data from a couple weeks ago.
As you can see, just 19% of consumers said they were more likely to visit a non-GMO restaurant. A very similar 44% said it would have no effect (Perhaps 44-46% of people will eat at any restaurant no matter what they serve or ban). The big difference is the number of of people who aren’t aware of GMOs and what it means. As the scientific community continues to battle on the topic of GMOs, we could see these numbers change.
Still, at face value, we could conclude that Taco Bell’s recent announcement has greater upside potential for them than the GMO announcement may have for Chipotle. We’ll keep an eye on it.
