Red Lobster 2004 Annual Report Download - page 16

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16
Leader ship฀Defined
Often, leadership is a matter of perspective. During his more than
10 years as a supplier of restaurant beverage and cooking equipment,
Nat Martin had the opportunity to observe dozens of restaurant
companies. When he began interacting with Darden, he saw a leader.
“The Company and its people simply stood out in the industry,” he
remembers. “Their knowledge, their manner, their professionalism –
it all had an air of cutting-edge for our industry.”
Darden also recognized a leader, and soon recruited Nat as a purchasing
manager. Within just two years, he has risen to Director of Bakery
Purchasing at Darden’s Restaurant Support Center in Orlando, Florida.
“I buy the breadsticks!” he jokes. His responsibilities include devel-
oping and maintaining good relationships with approximately 40
suppliers at any given time. Nat stresses the relationship part of his
job description. “Our approach to suppliers is best described as a
strategic partnership,” he says. “We ultimately want them to feel like
an extension of our Company, with an understanding and apprecia-
tion of our corporate culture.” This means, for instance, not always
focusing solely on costs, but also on building a relationship where
Darden and its suppliers have mutually compatible long-term growth
and business goals.
Suppliers are a critical part of Darden’s success, a fact underscored
at an industry gathering, when Darden presents its annual William
Darden Distinguished Supplier Awards to nine suppliers whose inno-
vative solutions contribute significantly to Darden’s growth. Selected
from more than 2,000 suppliers, these recipients truly represent some
of the most talented companies in the food service industry.
Vision
Nat฀Martin฀
Director,฀Bakery฀Purchasing฀
Darden฀Restaurants
As฀a฀former฀football฀player฀who฀
attended฀Purdue฀University฀on฀
scholarship,฀Nat฀Martin฀under-
stands฀the฀concept฀of฀team฀support.฀
Though฀he฀has฀a฀corporate-level฀
position,฀he฀never฀thinks฀in฀those฀
terms.฀“Those฀of฀us฀in฀Restaurant฀
Support฀really฀view฀our฀responsi-
bilities฀in฀terms฀of฀the฀front-line.฀
We฀never฀lose฀sight฀of฀the฀fact฀that฀
everything฀we฀do฀relates฀back฀to฀
the฀guest฀sitting฀in฀the฀restaurant.฀
As฀a฀purchasing฀director,฀my฀cus-
tomer฀base฀is฀every฀general฀man-
ager฀in฀the฀company.฀My฀job฀is฀to฀
help฀them฀do฀their฀job฀well฀by฀pro-
16
viding฀an฀excellent฀experience฀for฀
their quests."