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It appears like a shrimp-ly irresistible provide, however Red Lobster’s $20 infinite shrimp deal was allegedly the primary suspect within the chain’s chapter submitting earlier this 12 months, the brand new CEO mentioned in a current interview.
“You stress out the kitchen. You stress out the servers. You stress out the host. People can’t get a table,” Damola Adamolekun informed CNN in his first on-camera interview Friday. “It creates a lot of chaos operationally.”
Though the beloved seafood chain had provided the infinite shrimp deal for restricted instances solely since 2004, it grew to become a everlasting menu merchandise in 2023. And only a few years prior, in 2020, Thai Union Group had grow to be Red Lobster’s majority shareholder with 49% management.
Adamolekun defined how Red Lobster was on the decline for a few years due to that partnership with seafood distributor Thai Union.
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“I have to believe [Thai Union] wanted to do as well as they could. The fundamental problem is they’re not restaurant operators. They’re vendors for shrimp,” Adamolekun mentioned.
Red Lobster CEO Damola Adamolekun put the blame on the chain's $20 infinite shrimp deal forcing its Chapter 11 chapter earlier this 12 months. (Getty Images)
Once Thai Union gained majority management, the group had reportedly reorganized Red Lobster’s government management as effectively, and the year-round infinite shrimp promotion proved to be an excessive amount of to deal with.
The Los Angeles Times beforehand reported how some patrons took to social media to brag about what number of shrimp they had been in a position to scarf down, together with one girl who mentioned she ate 108 shrimp throughout a four-hour meal.
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As clients regarded to gorge themselves on shrimp and opted to proceed consuming Red Lobster's discounted fare, the corporate took greater losses on the promotion. On prime of that, Adamolekun claimed the employees was overwhelmed.
Watching the $20-all-you-can-eat shrimp debacle from the skin, the CEO thought “that’s a very expensive product to give away endlessly.”
Red Lobster ultimately filed for Chapter 11 chapter safety in a Florida courtroom in May, and RL Investor Holdings LLC acquired it as a part of a court-approved plan.
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The 35-year-old CEO of Red Lobster was beforehand the pinnacle of P.F. Chang’s earlier than becoming a member of the seafood chain in September. In his interview with CNN, Adamolekun didn't rule out the potential for bringing “endless shrimp” again to tables.
“I never want to say never, but certainly not the way that it was done… We won’t have it in a way that’s losing money in that fashion and isn’t managed,” he mentioned.
FOX Business’ Eric Revell and Aislinn Murphy contributed to this report.
