Red Lobster 2009 Annual Report Download - page 7

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What has been the impact on the Company of broadening your
portfolio of brands?
We have seen a positive impact from the acquisition of LongHorn Steakhouse
and The Capital Grille. We have diversied our brand oerings to consumers,
which is helping us capture more dining occasions and thus more market
share. We’ve increased our scale, which has led to reduced costs in many
areas, especially in food and beverage costs and general and administrative
expenses. Also, the diversication of our basket of commodities has reduced
our exposure to cost volatility in any one item. And, we’ve created more
opportunities for our employees to learn, grow and pursue their dreams.
In what ways is Darden taking a leadership role on key issues aecting
the industry?
With 180,000 domestic employees, we are one of the largest private employers
in the country. Virtually any employment issue aects us and we work hard
to make sure our voice is heard on those issues. There are also public policy
conversations about an array of other things that aect both Darden and the
restaurant industry, like menu labeling and food safety. We work to be heard
on these matters as well. And, with nearly 1,800 restaurants across the country,
we believe we can oer important insights on critical issues, such as diversity
and sustainability, with import far beyond our industry.
What are Darden’s priorities for scal 2010?
Our plans for scal 2010 reect our assumption that economic and industry
conditions will remain challenging. Therefore, we expect to continue to
highlight for consumers the value we oer, as well as the opportunity we
provide for people to pause and strengthen their connection with one
another at a time when stress and anxiety levels are higher than normal.
We’ll also continue to invest in new restaurant growth in scal 2010, and
we plan to accelerate the pace of remodels of existing restaurants at each of
our large brands. In addition, we’re investing to make our support platform
even stronger so that it works even harder for us. We believe these investments
will enable us to accelerate share gain protably coming out of the slowdown.
We also expect to generate strong cash ows even after making these invest-
ments, which is why we recently announced a meaningful increase in our
dividend. With the cash ow that remains after investing in the business and
paying our dividend, our focus in scal 2010 will be on nancial exibility.
So, we will emphasize debt reduction and limit our share repurchase more
than we have in recent years.
Our highest priority for scal 2010 remains ensuring that Darden continues
to be a vibrant organization – one that delivers industry-leading results, delights
an ever-increasing number of guests and provides more and more employees
with an opportunity for individual growth. We believe we are on the path to
capturing the signicant long-term growth potential available to us in what
continues to be an exciting industry. We also believe we’re on the path to
creating a great company – one that is a winning organization nancially,
a special place to be … and that matters even more than we do today.
Total Restaurants*
1,268 1,292
1,324
1,702
1,773
05 06 07 08 09
* From continuing operations