Seafood Restaurant’s Jumbo Shrimp Miscalculation Costs 11 Million Dollars
Boiled shrimp with lemon slices on a plate with lemon slices
If you’re one who enjoys “all you can eat” restaurant specials, you may be a diner who thinks “This restaurant isn’t making any money on me.” When it’s “all you can eat” it’s unlimited, but the restaurant usually relies on those who don’t eat a lot to help them turn a profit. This allows them to compensate for those who act like an “all you can eat” is an “eat as much as you possibly can until you can’t walk.”
New Jersey Locations
Red Lobster, which has locations in East Brunswick, Trenton, South Plainfield, and Bridgewater, New Jersey, learned this the hard way. The lesson is literally costing them a fortune. If you want to make money as the owner of a restaurant, you can not underestimate how much food people will chow down on if you offer that “all you can eat” thing.
Red Lobster made the decision to change its “Ultimate Endless Shrimp” “all you can eat” deal from a limited-time offer to an everyday option. That fateful decision resulted in a single-quarter loss of more than $11 million. That’s a lot of shrimp!
According to Restaurant Business News, Red Lobster placed the total blame on the “all you can eat” deal. It allowed their patrons to choose from two different kinds of shrimp and eat as much as they wanted for just twenty bucks. Bad idea! The meal also included an “all you can eat” unlimited amount of Red Lobster’s famous Cheddar Bay Biscuits. Maybe Red Lobster thought that customers would fill up on biscuits and not eat as many shrimp. If they did, they thought wrong.
Jumbo Miscalculation
The CFO, Ludovic Regis Henri Garnier of the company that owns the restaurant chain said it just “didn’t expect” customers to choose the shrimp deal as often as they did. I guess he made a big mathematical miscalculation. He said, “We knew the price was cheap, but the idea was to bring more traffic to the restaurants, and it didn’t work.”
Red Lobster has now raised the price to $25, but it may be too late. After the “shrimp debacle,” RBN says that the restaurant chain is expected to lose more than $20 million this year.
4 Reasons Why People Love Chain Restaurants
Lately, the subject of first dates occurring at chain restaurants has garnered significant attention. A recent survey asking women about their least preferred venues for first dates has ignited a debate on the internet. This list, which was shared on Instagram by @DuvalPromo, is reportedly the result of polling women to determine their least favored first-date locations.
Among the 28 establishments on the list are restaurant chains such as Applebee’s, Chili’s, and Denny’s are featured. The top spot for the most unsuitable first date location is occupied by The Cheesecake Factory, followed by Applebee’s, Chili’s, Chipotle, and Olive Garden, rounding out the top five. It’s worth noting that the list includes not only restaurants but also specific first-date situations, including “your house,” family functions, a bar solely for drinks, and church.
Whether it’s a first date or a casual meal, the question arises: Why do some people have reservations about restaurant chains?
According to Farm Credit Canada, a chain restaurant is defined as a business with four or more locations. These restaurants are typically large-scale operations with multiple branches, sometimes spanning different countries or continents.
More Background on Chain Restaurants.
The expansion of chain restaurants did not occur overnight. Many of them have humble origins in smaller, local establishments. For instance, the Cheesecake Factory, which currently operates over 300 restaurants in the U.S. and Canada, began as a small bakery in Detroit and eventually evolved into The Cheesecake Bakery in Los Angeles in 1972, according to their website. It wasn’t until the late ’90s and early 2000s that additional locations began to appear.
Critics often express their reservations about chain restaurants, and there are valid reasons for their concerns. Many people prefer supporting local businesses over large corporations, as chain restaurant food is often mass-produced and served uniformly across various locations. Dining exclusively at upscale or independent establishments offers a sense of social prestige, something to brag about, and the feeling of indulging in a unique experience. However, ultimately, it’s all about eating a meal.
“Fancy like Applebee’s on a date night.”
There’s something comforting about knowing that, for the most part, you can find something familiar to eat at any time and almost anywhere. Maybe that’s why singer Walker Hayes dedicated his song Fancy Like, to the simple joys of eating a chain like Applebee’s. So, let’s chat about some of the reasons people actually enjoy dining at chain restaurants.
Joel Katz is the Morning Show Personality, Assistant Program Director, Podcast Host, Voiceover artist, audio producer, and Digital Content Writer for Magic 98.3. Joel has been working in New Jersey radio since college and started at Magic in 2002 as the Morning Show Host, “I can’t think of another place where I’d fit more perfectly; it’s just a great company with awesome people.” Joel is married to Kathleen, his elementary school sweetheart (they were each other’s first dates at age 9), shares a birthday with his oldest son, Ty, and has twins, Kiera and Liam. Joel runs at least 3.1 miles every day and enjoys playing basketball, doing laundry, saving his turn signal for when he really needs it, kissing dogs through a fence, using coasters, making that cool noise by rubbing his fingers on balloons, and chasing after ping pong balls on a windy cruise ship.