Essay About Kim Lopdrup And Red Lobster

Red Lobster Case StudyHistory:Red Lobster is one of America’s oldest and largest national full-service casual dining chains. As a young teen, William Darden founded the first Red Lobster in 1968 in Lakeland, Florida and today, there are nearly 700 Red Lobster’s restaurants throughout the country. In 1970, the chain was sold to General Mills, but Darden was kept on as president. Five years later in 1975, Joe Lee, General Manager of the first Red Lobster restaurant, took over as president. Twenty-nine years later, Kim Lopdrup took over the presidency in 2004.

In general, the casual dining industry was hit hard by the recession of 2008-2009. Lopdrup saw immediate opportunities for improvement and he felt that a major change in positioning was needed. He stated, “We knew we had to change perceptions and reposition Red Lobster in the consumer’s mind from frozen to fresh.” The portrayal of the entire establishment was changed. The menus, the interior and exterior of the building, and purchasing habits were adjusted to facilitate the change. Lopdrup launched a three phase plan that, in his mind, were critical for changing consumer perceptions.

Three-Phase Plan:Lopdrup created a three-step plan which would result in the reinvention of Red Lobster. The first step was “operational excellence”. The purpose of this step was to establish a “Fresh, Clean, Friendly, Full” atmosphere. To establish the freshness, all of the cooking equipment was rectified to ensure the correct cooking temperatures were met for the right entrees. To ensure the cleanliness, certain odors were tracked down and eliminated and all restrooms were redone. There was a greater focus on hiring and training of the staff to emphasize the friendliness which was considered the most important service attribute. The last quality was handed by hiring more bussers who were staffed during peak hours which decreased the time spend resetting and turning tables. The meal pacing system was also computerized which recorded synchronized cook times for each item in an order so the meal can be served as soon as it was prepared. These small steps changed the daily operation of Red Lobster.

The next step was “re-positioning around ‘freshness’”. In order to execute this portion of his plan, Lopdrup hired a new culinary team, developed a new menu around freshness, and changed cooking platforms. The two main changes that took place were the introduction of the wood-fire grill and the daily menu. A survey which was done by an outside firm showed that consumers prefer wood-fire grilling over every other method of cooking fish. With the addition of a wood-fire grill at Red Lobster, five Grill Master positions were established. These individuals improved the quality and attention to detail. This, however, was only the first step. The next part of this phase was changing the appearance of the menu. Though

Lopdrup’s plan included new cooking platforms and an even more modern method of cooking, he has been criticized for his lack of modernization. In view of this criticism, however, a number of experts and chefs who have served with him have commented on his concept of cooking in a modern way. The best known example, however, are Mr. Alim Rama of Jourdan Market. Before he became Grill Master his restaurant, the restaurant he serves at the Red Lobster, was in the process of upgrading to a new dining style. According to Mr. Rama, “When we brought the first meal here in the fall of 2016, we were quite excited. It was a completely new experience for us, it was new, new. We’ve just lost our former taste.” That said, he continued to work hard to make the restaurant what he believes it is today. When we asked him what he was going to do about the renovation, he described it as a “long-term project” and expressed hope that he will improve the restaurant’s workmanship and to bring the restaurant back to form.”

Mr. Rama also stated that he has a group of five cooks and they have been in the restaurant for 11 months and the food is always fresh.””

With food improvements coming at the moment, we will begin to make efforts to improve the dining experience. With the renovation, our work will begin at a new restaurant style, at least at Red Lobster. For a restaurant to have value, it needs to have better kitchens. One of the problems with building high quality meals requires people to put effort into producing a good meal. In addition to being a great food, a good meal also needs to be made with care and taste. So, when I saw the menu, I was extremely excited!”

The change that led to the new restaurant style and its remodeling are a real result of successful efforts done in the past. This was not just a change at a restaurant. Lopdrup began his first restaurant in 1997, while serving for the world’s greatest fish restaurant that has been served in many countries for more than 100 years, in Russia in the late 1990s. The food in the new restaurant reflects the world’s cuisine. The new menu is filled with fresh fresh ingredients—not just our traditional fishes that have been served in the past. Instead of the standard fish in traditional menus, we were creating fresh fish in the traditional style. The first taste for fish in the kitchen was the fish with a crisp aroma. There was just the freshest quality fish. The first fish was made with the natural flavor of salmon. The next thing I knew, fish was growing.

Our new restaurant started a year after the remodel. During