Red Lobster 2005 Annual Report Download - page 6

Olive Garden brings an idealized Italian family dining experience to
millions of guests. Smokey Bones offers the food and camarade-
rie of a backyard barbeque. In both cases – whether sustaining
a brand for two decades or expanding a brand to multiple new
communities – company culture brings each concept to life.
Indeed, our employee training and communication efforts are
focused on consistently and brilliantly delivering each concept’s
brand vision. The ways in which this happens are as distinct as
the brands themselves.
Olive Garden believes in the power of inspiration to infuse its
teams with Italian culture and passion. Each year, many team
members travel to Italy to train at Olive Garden’s Riserva di Fizzano
restaurant and adjoining Culinary Institute of Tuscany. There, they
absorb the culinary heritage, spirit and atmosphere of genuine
Italian dining (and develop new recipes that often are added to
the menu in our restaurants throughout North America). Closer
to home, Olive Garden restaurants across the country have held
“family reunion” dinners, in which the restaurant staff provides
a worthy local family or group with a special dining experience.
“Reunion” guests have included unemployed families, foster
parents and their children, military families and Red Cross vol-
unteers. The opportunity to provide these deserving people
with an enjoyable evening has proved to be an extraordinary
way of instilling Olive Garden team members with the true spirit
of Hospitaliano!®
At just over 100 locations in about six years, Smokey Bones
is our fastest growing brand. It has consistently delivered its
brand vision through well-trained and committed teammates,
as reflected in the company’s strong guest satisfaction ratings.
Friendliness is a key part of the Smokey Bones vision, and that
starts with the hiring process, where an engaging and outgoing
personality counts as much as experience. Smokey Bones also
helps its servers let their natural friendliness and personality
come through to guests by keeping table service simple. For
instance, servers are encouraged to simply “be themselves,”
rather than recite a memorized speech when greeting guests.
Smokey Bones’ success in bringing its brand to life on the
frontline underscores what our entire Company has learned
through the years: when the team understands and believes in
the vision, the vision comes to life.
“You need a strong culture to sustain a brand promise. e
strategy fits in a notebook, but the culture is what sustains
the brand in 500-600 restaurants.”
– Dave Pickens, President
Olive Garden
8 Darden Restaurants Darden Restaurants 9
Brands Live
On The Front Line