The company I've decided to focus on for this assignment is Darden Restaurants. I've worked on and off for years at Longhorn Steakhouse, which is owned by Darden Restaurants. Darden owns many other successful restaurant chains including Olive Garden, Red Lobster, and Bahama Breeze. The company is very successful and makes the list of Forbes Best Companies to Work For.
I found this quote on Darden Restaurants website; “We're on a path to create what we believe is a truly great company; a vibrant organization that consistently produces competitively strong financial results and is a special place to work for employees. Our vision is to be a company that positively affects meaningfully more guests, employees, communities and business partners – a company that matters even more than we do today.” This quote was from Clarence Otis Jr, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. This is close to a mission statement for Darden. They also base their values on doing the right thing and providing a work environment for people looking to achieve their professional and personal goals.
Bill Darden opened their first Red Lobster in Florida in 1968. It became a success and they opened three more in Florida. They lacked the resources to expand further so Darden sold the rights to General Mills which help expand the Darden concept. They then made Bill Darden President and opened the Darden Restaurants headquarters in Orlando, Florida. After the success of Red Lobster, Olive Garden was created in 1982, followed by Bahama Breeze in 1996. They also acquired Longhorn Steakhouse and The Capital Grille from Rare Hospitality in 2007.
Their products and services include franchise full service restaurants. Each restaurant has its own food genre. Red Lobster being seafood, Longhorn Steakhouse being western steakhouse, Bahama Breeze being Caribbean cuisine, and The Capitol Grille as the upscale steakhouse. Like I said, I work for Longhorn Steakhouse, and I know our products are always fresh and never frozen and that's what sets us apart from other restaurants, who more likely have frozen products. Also, at Longhorn Steakhouse, our managers emphasize quality service and anticipating guests needs. Service and food quality are extremely important and that is what keeps people coming back night after night.
I think the target audience for Darden Restaurants are middle class people and families. With the exception of The Capital Grille, all other Darden Restaurants are fairly priced and family friendly. Their goal is to serve fresh delicious meals at an affordable price. When it comes to The Capitol Grille, I think their trying to create an upscale environment to enjoy quality steak products. Their target market is more upper class.
All in all, I believe Darden Restaurants is a great company to work for. They are very fair and very successful, and really care about their employees. I'm glad to have picked this company for this blog project :)
