Quick Tips

Today is National Penuche Fudge Day. We know what you’re thinking: What the f*ck is penuche fudge? Penuche, or panucci in Italian, is fudge made with brown sugar, milk, butter and a hint of vanilla — but no chocolate. What sets penuche apart from othe…

Hipsters, meet Switchel. It’s an American heritage beverage made of apple cider vinegar, ginger and sweetener. It has long been drunk by farmers during haying season which can now be bought at your local food shop. No longer do you need to be working …

The French get a lot of flak for, well, being French. They’re teased for acting pretentious, and they’re accused of displaying feelings of superiority. We’re not going to take sides on the matter, but we will say this: When it comes to their food, the …

The French get a lot of flak for, well, being French. They’re teased for acting pretentious, and they’re accused of displaying feelings of superiority. We’re not going to take sides on the matter, but we will say this: When it comes to their food, the …

You’ve heard the terms before, but do you really know what “pasteurized” and “homogenized” mean when it comes to milk? The processes are critical to both your safety and your taste buds, but are dramatically different. Having just examined the pros and…

Higher prices aren’t enough to keep burrito lovers away from Chipotle.

The Denver-based chain reported a 25-percent jump in profit in the second quarter from the same time a year ago. Same-store sales — a closely watched retail metric tracking sales of stores open more than a year — jumped 17.3 percent from a year ago.

All this despite the fact that the company raised prices over the past few months in an aim to counter food inflation.

“It seems that most customers haven’t blinked at a little bit of a menu-price increase,” Mary Chapman, the director of product innovation at Technomic, a food research firm, said before the company reported earnings.

Chipotle’s blockbuster earnings come at a time when other restaurants are struggling. Red Lobster and Olive Garden reported decreases in same-store sales during their most recent earnings reports. KFC and Pizza Hut saw sales at U.S. established stores drop 2 and 4 percent, respectively.

It helps that Chipotle has loyal customers: Chipotle consistently scores highly in “occasion driven by true loyalty,” a wonky term monitored by analysts who follow the food business. It essentially measures how often diners go to a restaurant because they seek it out, not just because it’s convenient, according to Dave Jenkins, a managing director at Datassential, a food research firm. Customers appreciate Chipotle’s “aura of health consciousness,” he said. And because they typically get so much food at Chipotle, diners see it as a good value, even with the price increases.

“For whatever reason, they crave the product,” Jenkins said.

Indeed, though price increases did help boost same-store sales figures, store traffic grew, too, according to the earnings release.