Newly appointed Red Lobster CEO Damola Adamolekun, named to the position in late August as the Orlando, Florida, U.S.A.-based restaurant chain emerged from bankruptcy proceedings, said its “Ultimate Endless Shrimp” promotion was one of the company’s big mistakes leading up to its Chapter 11 filing.
“There were certainly a lot of big mistakes,” Adamolekun told CNN. “It’s a very expensive product to give away endlessly. When you have endless shrimp and people sitting down at the table and eating as much shrimp as they possibly can, you stress out the kitchen, you stress out the servers and the host, and people can’t get a table. It creates a lot of chaos, and you saw a lot of that.”
Besides costing the company nearly USD 11 million (EUR 10 million), and the aggravation it brought to the chain’s staff, the promotion also elicited investigations, namely into Samut Sakhon, Thailand-based Thai Union’s involvement in the deal. In its bankruptcy filings, Red Lobster claimed Thai Union exerted an “undue influence” on its shrimp purchasing.
Thai Union invested millions into the chain in 2016 while continuing to serve as Red Lobster's primary shrimp supplier. In 2020, Thai Union became part of a consortium that acquired Red Lobster outright, aiming to find synergies in supply and marketing.
The investigation has yet to conclude, but post-bankruptcy, Adamolekun said Red Lobster is ...