A) Cheese is not usually expensive, like avocado, and so not usually considered worth paying extra for
2) Cheese is known not to be healthy, and part of the appeal of Chipotle is the illusion that you're eating healthy food
3) A different kind of cheese is already available for free, so that substitute good is bound to drive down demand for queso
I did notice that they recently cut corn tortillas and one (or two?) of the meat options, so they at least seem to be cognizant of the benefits of reducing decision fatigue by concentrating on their best-selling options
4) Their queso is not very good.
I use to get queso on my burritos at Qdoba every single time, when that was still around. But their queso was actually good. Chipotle's is not.
I'm not the only person that thinks that. There's articles and memes and all sorts of things about it: https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/09/18/everybody-hates-ch...
There are other, cheaper methods of obtaining protein. Some of which are locally available. In Africa, for example, insects are used as local source of protein. They have a low Co2 footprint for a variety of reasons:
* Because a lack of transportation (locally available). Especially when compared to trademark protected cheeses such as Gorgonzola.
* Barely any land is used and it can be stacked, allowing more space for other land usage (generally that could be forests, or at least not adding to deforestation).
* No methane enters the air which directly affects Co2 emissions (which cows, generally the main animal used for cheese, do produce a lot).
Compare insects and cheese to avocados: for Europeans avocados are not locally grown, and the deforestation is a "far from my bed" show.
It's all about branding.
What do you mean by illusion? "Healthy" vs "unhealthy" for starters isn't some sort of easy to define line, but curious why you'd make that comment.
Though simplicity and just doing the same thing well is really what Chipotle is or was, much like In-N-Out doesn't need gimmicks, just the same good food consistently with well paid employees so it is quality. Hopefully Chipotle doesn't add too many things.