The Best One Yet - 🌯 “I measured the bowls” — Chipotle’s burrito “weight debate”. Wimbledon’s grass startup. Amazon’s renewable energy win.

Episode Date: July 11, 2024

Chipotle is accused of “mis-sizing” their burrito bowls… so 1 bank analyst tested 75 of them.Your home may run on Amazon clean energy… because Amazon is a power company too.The real winner of the Wimbledon tennis tournament is… the startup that grows their grass.Plus, we went to the first-ever Ben & Jerry’s ice cream store… and found the best business advice ever.$CMG $AMZN $WFCSubscribe to our Saturday Newsletter: tboypod.com/newsletter  Watch us on YouTube Submit Facts & Shoutouts Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn (Nick) & LinkedIn (Jack)About Us: From the creators of Robinhood Snacks Daily, The Best One Yet (TBOY) is the daily pop-biz news show making today’s top stories your business. 20 minutes on the 3 business, economics, and finance stories you need, with fresh takes you can pretend you came up with — Pairs perfectly with your morning oatmeal ritual. Hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell.00:00 - intro01:38 - Ben & Jerry's05:03 - Chipotle’s burrito “weight debate”10:06 - Amazon’s renewable energy win.14:38 - Wimbledon’s grass startup20:07 - Takeaways20:47 - OTHER NEWS!22:02 - Best Fact Yet24:10 - Shout outs Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Thursday, the new Friday. July 11th. And today's part, this is the best one, yet this is a T-Boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. And Jack, a happy 7-Eleven day to you and all those who celebrate. That's right.

It's July 11th. Enjoy a slurpee today. Make it a blue-ras? Free slurpees, I think, right? Not too shabby. Blue-Raz all day every day. We may have just incited a riot at your local 7-11. Besties, by the way, last night's baseball game got canceled, so if you're in Burlington,

Jack and I will be at Zero Gravity Brewery tonight. We're going to be there tonight. You can actually hear the Thunder and Lightning during this recording. That's why the game was canceled. There was a rain delay. Minor League Baseball, Major League IPA. C.S.G. In the meantime, three fantastic stories for today's show, Jack, what do we got on the pie?

For our first story, Chipotle has been accused of mis-sizing their burrito bowl. So one go-getting bank analyst put an end to the... burrito weight debate by ordering from 75 different Chipotle's and comparing the size. We got the results. For our second story, this is a wild one. Your home might be powered by Amazon generated renewable energy. Because Amazon just became the biggest company ever to use 100% clean electricity. And our third and final story is the Wimbledon.

The tennis tournament in England ends this weekend, but the real winner is the grass. Specifically, the startup that makes Wimbledon's perfect grass. There's a company that makes their grass. It's a hundred million dollar landscaping company. This is a real company we're going to tell you all about. But yeah, it is before we hit that wonderful mix. Fantastic mix of stories. No one else is doing this mix.

I love this mix, Jack. Last night, Nick and I went to Ben and Jerry's. It was incredible. And we indulged. We didn't just go to any Ben and Jerry's. No, we didn't, Jack. We went to the very first Ben and Jerry's scoop shop in Burlington, Vermont. Jack and I went to the very first.

OG Ben and Jerry Scoop Shop, which happens to be in DTVT. DTBTV. Now, Jack, should we jump in T-Bois style and share the flavors we indulged in? I got milk and cookies. All right. I didn't know that flavor existed. No, no. It's like cookies and cream, but fancy.

Oh, it's way better than cookies and cream. It's chocolate chip cookies in ice cream that somehow chocolate chip swirl. I should point out, Jack's fell on the ground, and they actually gave them a new one. I went in. I said, I'm so sorry, I dropped it. They gave me a new one. But we also ate the one that went on the ground. I went with the half baked in a cup with hot fudge, extra hot fudge.

Extra hot fudge was a risky boom. I also sampled three flavors. I would have sampled four, but that guy behind me, Jack, he was like giving me an eye. Either way, Nick and I went to bed feeling like chunky monkeys. Because Ben and Jerry, they don't do portion control. But last night, while Nick and I ate our ice cream in the VW hippie van that exists inside this ice cream shop, Jack and I were reminded of a quote from Ben and Jerry on the founding of their company.

Because the best business advice Nick and I have ever heard ever is from Ben and Jerry's on The How I Built This Podcast. This was the best quote about business we've ever heard. Push and play. Let's play it. Let's hit it. Jeff got us a copy of a business plan that was from a pizza parlor in New York. So Ben and I pretty much copied that business plan, except every place where it said slice of pizza,

we crossed it out and we wrote in ice cream coming. And the other thing. great thing about the business plan was when we first rode out and figured out our projections for how much ice cream we would sell and how much it would cost. The projections told us that we weren't going to sell enough ice cream to stay in business. So we just changed the projections. Kind of like the government. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies who are anyone launching?

a company. Sometimes, you can just make it up. Just make it up. Don't commit fraud. Yeah, don't do that. Don't do that. But every founder has to be bullish about the future. So sometimes, just make up the numbers. Jack, when we are doing our spreadsheet, sometimes we're like, hey, maybe the six becomes a seven. I don't know. Nick and I don't call it making it up. We call it always round up. We call it always rounding up. Ben and Jerry's did it, including on their ice cream portions. Extra hot fudge, Jack. Let's hit our three stories. years before this song. Two boys from the Northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm. It's the best one yet, but the best is an norm. Jack Nick, that's it. I don't even think

they need to practice. 50% that's a fat tip. Tea Boy City on your at list. If you know, you know, because we're ready to go. We can't wait no more. So just start the show. Start the show. First, a quick word from our sponsor. For our first story, Chipotle has been accused of inconsistent portions in their Chipotle burrito bowls. So one analyst tested 75 of those burrito bowls. Yeah. And we have the results. Oh, and we've also got a lesson on how to get promoted. Yes, we do. Yeah, we do. But first, did you know that Chipotle is now worth the same as Starbucks? Yeti's Chipotle stock has been tearing up the market like tinfoil. Yeah. In the last five years, Chipotle stock has quadruped. Stick that in your Frappuccino, Jack. But Chipotle is facing a

protest in recent weeks against allegedly shrinking the portions of their burrito balls. Customers are accusing Chipotle of shrinkflation. Shrinkflation. They've been skimping on the amount of steak in your burrito ball. That pico de gallo is a little too pekinio, Jack. A little too piqua. A little too piquino. This controversy has been dubbed weight debate, and it's gotten ugly on social media. Yes, it has. In fact, TikTokers have been filming employees at Chipotle building their burritos to pressure them to add more proteins. It's like a black mirror episode. And the guacets always extra? It's still extra. The CEO has defended the portions of Chipotle's burritos in their earnings reports.

And he's also told people to stop harassing these employees by filming them why they work. Which leads to the big question when it comes to burrito bowls, does size matter? Absolutely size matters. Yeah, that's actually not the big question. That's not the big question at all. The big question is really, has Chipotle reduced the size of their burritos? That's the question. Chipotle officially says, no, they have not.

But here's the news. There is one bank analyst at Wells Fargo who just put the weight debate to the test by ordering at 75 different Chipotle's. And we have got the receipts. This guy went full muck-wracking journal stars. This is like the biggest investigation since Watergate. Here's the details. The man is named Zachary Fatum and he ordered 75 of the same exact burrito bowls from Chipotle. but from eight different locations across New York City. Now, here's the key yeties. What Zach did is he kept the same exact ingredients on all 75 orders. White rice, black beans, chicken, pico de gallo, cheese, and lettuce. He held all the variables constant except for the location.

That way, he could test the consistency and end the weight debate. So, Jack, adding it all up after feeding 75 colleagues, those burrito bowls at Wells, Fargo, which everyone was probably really, really, really. I would love to have been one of those 75 colleagues. Oh, the whole lot of napkins. The Wells Fargo analyst published his findings. Here they are. Chipotle has a portion problem.

Yet this, yet is. There was almost a one pound difference between the smallest and the biggest Chipotle burrito bowls. The average burrito bowl weighted at 21 ounces, which is an impressively large meal. But Jack, standard deviations aside, what were the extremes? The biggest burrito bowl was 27 ounces. Okay. The smallest was 13 ounces.

One of those burrito bowls is a snack. The other one is a meal, man. The biggest one was almost twice as big as the smallest one. Like one of them was the size of your hand. One of them's the size of your leg. So for some people ordering a Chipotle, the portions are definitely smaller. Like if you got that 13 ounce version, even though the average may be the same. Now, Nick and I could do a takeaway on consistency, on quality control, even on crisis management for Chipotle.

But are we going to do that, Jack? No, we're not. No, we're not. Because the real story is that one employee who decided to do this 75%. bold test that we're all talking about. That is going to be our takeaway. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at anyone trying to get promoted? To get promoted.

Play show and tell, but at work. Play show and tell at work. Yet is show and tell. That's spicy day in school. When everyone got this show something off, I got a Tyrannosaurus that I got on my vacation. Well, this Wells Fargan is... He's in his 40s. Yes, he has.

But he just played show and tell. He did. And it's probably going to get him promoted at Wells Fargo. And it reminded Jack and me of a concept we learned about in business school, about how to get ahead, how to get promoted. The professor used a diorama analogy. Yeah, he did. He said, have something at your desk that is tangible and shareable to your colleagues

so that people are impressed by you. Yeah, instead of putting a diorama on his desk for show and tell, this Wells Fargo analyst did a brittable test as his show and tell. It was tangible because 75. people in the office got a free lunch and we're talking about it. And it was shareable because everyone was talking about what the analyst did and Wells Fargo got some good press. This guy did something tangible and he did something shareable. That is a promotion potion. It's a promotion potion. So Yetis, let's let Zachary Fatim's initiative be an inspiration. That if you want to get promoted,

play corporate show and tell. Order 75 burrito balls for the office. Try to expense them. It's a write-off. Our second story, Amazon just announced they can consumed 100% clean electricity all last year. And they did it seven years ahead of their scheduled goal. So how'd they pull it off, Jack? By side hustling as an energy company, something all of tech needs to do right now. But first, yetis, let's talk about Amazon, the real estate company. They really are real estate company.

They got a huge real estate footprint. They have data centers. They have distribution centers. They have grocery stores, and they have huge office buildings. Amazon has a physical presence in 27 different. countries. One of the biggest expenses, it's not the boxes or those white and blue like bubbly packages. What are those things? It's electricity. It's electricity. So yesterday, Amazon announced a shocker. That entire gigantic electric bill we just told you about,

it was carbon-free last year. Wind, solar, nuclear, carbon-free. This is a huge company. Yes. It consumes 100% clean electricity. Jack, Amazon, the company, sounds a lot like Amazon the rainforest. It's like Jeff Bezos is the new captain planet. You know what I'm talking? Yeah, kind of. Like Earth, wind, fire, Andy Jassy. In 2019, Amazon made a bold pledge. It's called the climate pledge. They pledged that they would do this by 2030. But last year was 2023. So Amazon accomplished this climate pledge seven years ahead of schedule. Well, we should point out, not the entire climate pledge. That's a good point. Amazon is not totally carbon neutral yet. This milestone is only for Amazon's physical buildings, not its transportation like cars. That goal to get the delivery vans and the

airplanes carbon neutral, that's 2040. And some critics say that Amazon's claim is misleading. It's not exactly one for one. But we disagree. Yes, we do. And we'll explain why. Let's explain why. Let's do it through geography, Jack. All right, let's go to Iowa. Let's go to Iowa. Check out some coin. Amazon built a wind farm in Iowa because there's tons of wind on the plains of Iowa. Now, Jack, I like Iowa. let's go to Arizona. I also like Arizona. Amazon built a solar farm in Arizona because there's tons of sun in the deserts of Arizona. Therefore, Amazon has become a huge producer of electricity into the power grids of Iowa and Arizona. They produce way more electricity in Arizona and Iowa than they need for

their buildings that they have in Arizona. In fact, funny thing, if you live in Iowa or Arizona, Your home might be powered by clean electricity produced by Amazon. And you didn't even know it. So what Amazon announced yesterday is that overall, they're producing the same amount of electricity with renewable energy that they're consuming. So it's equal worldwide. And they offset each other perfectly net zero. Even if they don't use all the clean electricity they're generating,

someone's using it. And that sounds like a fair calculation to us. For every Amazon phone that was charged with dirty, electricity, they got a solar panel somewhere that compensated for it. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddy is over at every tech company? Amazon shows the future of tech to side hustle as a power company. Yet is, the reason Amazon's report was so shocking is because Microsoft and Google are doing the opposite. Because of artificial intelligence, Microsoft and Google have both increased their carbon emissions by 30% and 48% in recent years. And Jack, we actually explained

why that's happening just last month. Yes, we did. Here's why. A query using artificial intelligence requires 10 times the amount of computing as a simple Google search. What Jack's saying is that clicking enter on chat GPT requires 10 times the electricity of clicking enter on Google. So AI is becoming a huge energy hog. But Amazon shows a solution here. To power AI sustainably, you need to become a power company. You need to invest in new clean electricity. Amazon has invested in 500 wind and solar projects globally. And Amazon is the biggest corporate purchaser of renewable energy for four years straight. And that's why some tech companies are building their own nuclear power plans

in order to achieve both these big goals, to lead in AI and also reduce their carbon footprint. So the way Jack and I see at, Amazon shows the future of all tech. Tech companies will have to side hustle as power companies too. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, Wimbledon. The oldest tennis tournament in the world ends this weekend in Wimbledon. In England. But the real winner won't be a tennis player.

It'll be the grass. Yeah. The company behind the grass. Jack, toss on your tennis wights and whip out your pinky finger man. It's Wimbledon finals weekend. Yes, it is Wimbledon, the oldest tennis tournament. in the world first played on a court in 1877. I don't think there's an older sports competition than this. I don't think there is, Jack. Maybe the Kentucky Derby. This tournament for tennis is nearly as old as the

countries of Italy and Germany. And it's famous for its intense dedication to tradition. Yeah, and dressing like James Bond. You want to get in. You better look good. You can't compete unless you're all dressed in one. You're going to have to button up at least two more buttons over there, Jack. True. This is risque. But yet here's the fascinating thing about Wimbledon. Every year, Wimbledon sacrifices $100 million in revenue. Every year there's $100 million in revenue. Wimbledon could generate, but they decide not to. So Jack and I wanted to ask the question.

Jack, why is Wimbledon missing out on $100 million in sales? Because they want their grass to be pristine. They want Fancy Gras. Because remember, this is the only major tennis tournament played on grass. That's true. And it's also the only one without logos, right, Jack? At the U.S. Open in Queens, they got. a Rolex, Mercedes, J.P. Morgan logo all over the net, all over the court, all over the out-of-bound

space. On the other hand, Wimbledon, they don't do that. They are untainted by corporate sponsors. Their grass is a clean, green grass. Their grass is magnificent. No ads, no logo, no big Deloitte image in the middle of that grass center court. Because all natural green grass is a symbol of Wimbledon. Yes. It's the soul of Wimbledon. Yes. That's all I got. Long live the King Jack. But, yes. The real winner of Wimbledon is actually the company behind the grass. The company is called Playgreen. Yeah, Playgreen.

They're the company with the Wimbledon grass or under the grass or making the grass. They're doing all the stuff involving the grass. And they're worth $100 million. Yeah. Because they just got acquired by a private equity firm for that price tag. Now, Playgreen is actually a Dutch company. And they, in fact, grow and mow 20% of the pro stadiums with playing surfaces of grass. Their first client was 15 years ago.

It was. They convinced the Green Bay Packers to let them handle the grass. The Green Bay Packers were their very first client. Playgreen figured out how to grow perfect grass in the frozen tendra of Wisconsin under Brett Farr's cleats. And now, 15 years later, this grass company manages the greens for the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, FC Barcelona, even the Red Sox at Fenway Park. Because Playgreen isn't an agriculture company. No.

They're not a landscaping company. You. Uh-uh. They're a tech company. They have a proprietary system to plant, fertilize, and grow grass to the optimal possible way. This company actually measures one billion different data points on a grass surface. They got sensors measuring the humidity, the wind, the pH levels to customize the perfect grass growing plan for each stadium. Jack's Playgreen will literally rebalance the sodium levels at Wimbledon in order to ensure the perfect shade of green.

We both work at fancy co-working spaces. We do, we do, we do. Where they pay employees to like, spray, spray, spray, spray. The indoor plants. Oh, they need this. They do that, basically, but in an automated, way more scientific way, for each blade of grass. I don't have a lawn, but if I did, I would want these guys to do my lawn. Walt Whitman's blade of grass has nothing on this guy.

But here's the wildest part yeties. Playgreen is actually catching a sports trend. Because pro sports is shifting back from artificial turf from the AstroTurf days, back to natural grass. It turns out these days players prefer grass. Fans prefer grass. And so the business of Playgreen is booming right now. That's why it's worth $100 million.

But Bestie's funny thing. The wildest part about this startup isn't actually the sod. It's one specific hero stat. And it's our takeaway. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddy is over at Playgreen? One client in the hand is worth two in the plan. Yet he's so many companies. companies focus on growth. Like, look how many new clients we've got.

Well, Playgreen doesn't. They focus on something else. Yeah. They highlight that they've never lost a client. Jack, can you please repeat that? Every stadium that's ever signed up to be a client of Playgreen has remained a client of Playgreen through today. Yeties, the Playgreen churn rate is 0%. That is something Jack and I have literally never seen. In their 15 years, they've signed up 550 clients and no one has ended the relationship. Because Playgreen doesn't focus on new clients, they focus on existing clients. Keeping a client is way more valuable than going after a new client. New clients, they require spending on sales and marketing and advertising and all for revenue

that might not even ever come in. But an existing client who's still paying is an existing client who's still paying. It's worth way more than a potential client who may never pay. Yet some people say that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Playgreen honors that because one client, in your hand is worth two in the business plan. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us for the new Friday? Chippotle burrito bowls very hugely in size.

We know thanks to one analyst at Wells Fargo. If you want to get a promotion yeties, play show and tell it work. That is your promotion potion. For our second story, Amazon just announced they're completely powered by clean electricity seven years ahead of schedule. Because in the future, tech companies need to side hustle as power companies. And our third and final story is Playgreen. They just got bought for $100 million because they've never lost a client in 15 years.

Including Wimbledon. One client in the hand is worth two in the plan. But Yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, senators reached a bipartisan deal to ban stock trading for members of Congress. If it passes, it would ban members of Congress, their spouses, and their dependent children from buying and selling stocks while in office. And we frankly, we think this makes sense because they have access to private info that we don't. They shouldn't be able to unfairly profit off it. No, they shouldn't. Seems like a no-brainer.

And second, Samsung doesn't get the same love as Apple, but Samsung just did their big annual event. And their big new product is the Galaxy Ring, a smart ring. It's basically the same as the aura ring, but it's a Samsung ring. It tracks your heart rate, your sleep cycles, your temperature, your menstrual cycle. Will Apple launch one next? That's The big question. Or will Apple acquire aura instead? Oh, what a call. And finally, Spotify just launched a comments page.

You can now comment on podcast episodes. Why is Spotify doing this? Because YouTube does this. And like, Spotify should tip. They're trying to compete with YouTube. So, yeah, if you have a thought about Chipotle's portion sizes, you can now comment today on this episode on Spotify. And guess what?

We can reply to you, which would be really fun. So Jack and I will hit you back. Now time for the best fact yet. This one wicked up by John Killen Jr. from lovely Tampa, Florida. Push and play. Here we go. Happy Shark Week, everyone.

This is John Killen Jr. with the best fact yet. One species can live for hundreds of years, making them older than the well-known companies we hear about on this show, the discovery of electricity, and even the United States of America. The Greenland Shark holds the record for being the longest living vertebrate on Earth. In 2016, scientists used radiocarbonation. dating and found one to be about 400 years old. All sharks hold an important place in our ecosystem. I hope we all can do our part to save our seas and our sharks. Thank you. Oh my, that shark is older

than Wimbledon, Jack. One of them lived to 500. They don't reach sexual maturity until 150. Are you kidding me? They're basically not even teenagers until they're 200 years old. I did not notice the Greenland shark is wise. And Jack, that, in honor of shark, week is why I'm wearing shark boxers again. I'm wearing my shark boxers. Jay Crew? Yeah, I'm wearing them again. Got to go. Two days in a row. In fairness, you're staying at my house. Yeah, yeah. So yeah, I get it. You don't have many pairs of boxers. May have washed them, may not have. You know, you can borrow my briefs. I could. That'd be a new level of our relationship. And that would be a story for another pod.

Yeties, you look fantastic for the new Friday. And if you want to help grow the show, one of the best things you can do is to drop down and give us a five-star rating. and review. We're almost at 10,000 ratings. We're so close. We're so close. 10,000 would be a prestigious number. We would love to hit that number together. So drop down and give us five stars in a review. And Nick and I, we'll see tomorrow. But before we go, Jack, where are we going tonight for dinner? I'm pretty excited about this. The Shelburne Farms Inn. Nice. Shelburne Farms, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. The same guy who designed Central Park. I heard they make the butter on site. That's true. The cows do. We're churning it ourselves.

And we're making ice cream. Yet he's Jack and I. We'll see you tomorrow. And before we go, a happy 34th birthday to Evelyn Rosado doing logistics over in Chicago. And happy birthday to Rebecca Reed in San Jose, California. Go Zags. She's ziggin while the zags are zagging. And a huge shout out to Vonda Perales in Bakersfield, California.

Her insurance company is officially recognized as a general agency. And to anyone else, celebrate something today, make it a T-boy. Celebrate the wins. I'm looking at the green and the shark It is also the oldest looking animal It looks like it's just kind of It looks so old It looks so old