Red Lobster 2010 Annual Report Download - page 19

Whether it’s through the Darden Restaurants, Inc. Foundation and our
Recipe for Success national philanthropic initiative, corporate giving
or diversity outreach, we’re committed to enhancing the quality of life
in the communities where we work and making a meaningful difference
in the lives of others.
•฀This฀past฀year,฀we฀provided฀more฀than฀$6฀million฀in฀support฀to฀
worthwhile charities and organizations through grants from the
Foundation and separate corporate donations. A substantial
amount of those funds were part of our Recipe for Success
initiative which supports organizations that help underserved
youth by providing access to the information and tools they
need to pursue their dreams of higher education.
•฀Darden’s฀commitment฀to฀diversity฀goes฀beyond฀our฀workplace฀
and global network of suppliers and into the communities we
serve. Our diversity outreach efforts are focused on education and
continuous learning programs for underserved youth through
our support of organizations such as the Hispanic College Fund,
the United Negro College Fund and the American Association of
People with Disabilities (AAPD).
•฀Through฀our฀Darden฀Harvest฀program,฀we฀donated฀8.8฀million฀
pounds of food to local food banks and other local charities in
fiscal 2010; enough to feed three meals a day for an entire year
to more than 2,600 families of four. In addition to helping those
in need, the food donations save our restaurants the cost of
disposal and earn tax benefits.
Sustainability
Sustainability plays a big part in our overall business strategy. Our
business relies on a number of natural resources, and we want to be
the best stewards of those resources we can be. By doing so, we
ensure the long-term success of our business while protecting and
enhancing the communities we serve.
We’ve set a goal of reducing our per-restaurant energy and water
use by 15 percent by 2015. And, we have an aspirational goal –
zero waste to landfill – that guides our waste-reduction efforts.
It’s early in our sustainability journey, but we believe our approach
will have lasting value because it builds on our heritage, values and
way of doing business.
•฀Employee฀“Green฀Teams”฀in฀each฀of฀our฀restaurants฀help฀us฀save฀
energy and water and manage waste better. Because they’re on
the front lines, these teams are in the best position to see where
we can improve. For example, an employee’s suggestion for a
process improvement in our Olive Garden restaurants is expected
to฀save฀400,000฀rolls฀of฀register฀paper,฀worth฀$400,000฀each฀year,฀
and save an estimated 2,920 trees.
•฀Darden฀is฀committed฀to฀seafood฀sustainability.฀As฀one฀of฀the฀
largest seafood buyers in the world, we believe we can help
inuence,฀shape฀and฀improve฀the฀health฀of฀wild฀sheries฀world-
wide. For example, we don’t serve overfished species such as
Orange Roughy and Chilean Sea Bass. From New Brunswick to
Nicaragua, we’re working with diverse organizations to support
sustainable lobster fisheries. And we’re partnering with the New
England Aquarium to promote sustainable fisheries and provide
our seafood buyers with tools to analyze the complex choices
involved in buying seafood.
•฀At฀our฀new฀Leadership฀in฀Energy฀and฀Environmental฀Design฀
(LEED®) Gold-certified Restaurant Support Center in Orlando,
we’ve incorporated a wide range of features that save energy and
water, use recycled materials and treat storm water naturally. We’re
also designing 10 new restaurants to achieve LEED certification.
Our restaurant design teams will use these as “learning labs” and
apply best practices in all new restaurants and, where feasible,
restaurant remodels. In fiscal 2010, a new Olive Garden in
Jonesboro, Arkansas, became the first full-service restaurant
to earn LEED Silver certification.
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