Chipotle's food-safety crisis
Chipotle, Qdoba's main competitor, endured a series of E. coli and norovirus outbreaks linked to its supply chain. The chain closed dozens of stores temporarily and saw sales drop sharply.
Chipotle's reputation and stock price suffered, and it had to overhaul its food-handling practices.
The crisis slowed Chipotle's expansion for years and made food safety a top priority across the fast-casual sector.
Shows how a fast-casual burrito chain's growth can be derailed by operational failures, in contrast to the straightforward licensing hurdle Qdoba now faces.
