Current:Home > Invest'I know how to do math': New Red Lobster CEO says endless shrimp deal is not coming back-LoTradeCoin
'I know how to do math': New Red Lobster CEO says endless shrimp deal is not coming back
View Date:2024-12-23 16:09:03
Shrimp lovers will notice a key item missing from Red Lobster's new menu.
In an interview with TODAY that aired Monday, CEO Damola Adamolekun announced that the seafood chain's revamped menu will include nine new items from a lobster bisque to bacon-wrapped sea scallops. However, he confirmed that the $20 endless shrimp deal has ended permanently.
"Relevant, compelling and exciting is what we want Red Lobster to be for the future, and so we’re working on that now," Adamolekun told TODAY.
Last year the seafood chain made all-you-can-eat shrimp a permanent menu item after two decades of offering it for a limited time. The decision, made by former Red Lobster CEO Paul Kenny, cost $11 million and saddled the company "with burdensome supply obligations" subsequent CEO Jonathan Tibus said in a May bankruptcy filing.
While teasing the possibility of the controversial item's return, current CEO Adamolekun decided against it, explaining that it's "because I know how to do math."
What are the new items?
Red Lobster's revamped menu includes nine new items, which have not all been revealed, Adamolekun said.
He teased following nine items:
- Hush puppies
- Bacon-wrapped sea scallops
- Lobster bisque
- Lobster pappardelle pasta
- Grilled mahi
- Parmesan-crusted chicken
"I expect a stampede into our restaurants because we’re bringing back the hush puppies," Adamolekun said, referring the item discontinued in recent years. "I stopped going to Red Lobster because they stopped the hush puppies. Since I was in college I love the hush puppies. I’m glad they’re back."
What has Red Lobster CEO previously said about ‘endless shrimp’?
Adamolekun has "always felt dubious" about the seafood chain’s decision to offer a $20 endless shrimp deal to its customers, sharing in an October interview with CNN that shrimp was a “very expensive product to give away endlessly.”
Red Lobster decided to make the deal a permanent offering last year, nearly 20 years after they only served it seasonally and for a limited time. The decision, according to Adamolekun, caused “chaos” at locations nationwide.
"You stress out the kitchen. You stress out the servers. You stress out the host. People can’t get a table," Adamolekun told CNN.
Adamolekun said in October he would consider bringing the deal back but made no promises, citing profit concerns.
“I never want to say never, but certainly not the way that it was done," he added. "We won’t have it in a way that’s losing money in that fashion and isn’t managed."
Who is the new CEO of Red Lobster
Damola Adamolekun was brought on to be the new Red Lobster CEO in August.
The Nigeria native joins the company after previous corporate experience as P.F. Chang’s CEO and Chief Strategy Officer, as well as partner at the New York investment firm Paulson & Co.
Contributing: Jonathan Limehouse and Amaris Encinas
veryGood! (2)
Related
- 'Gladiator 2' review: Yes, we are entertained again by outrageous sequel
- Stephen tWitch Boss' Autopsy Confirms He Had No Drugs or Alcohol in His System at Time of Death
- With Giant Oil Tanks on Its Waterfront, This City Wants to Know: What Happens When Sea Level Rises?
- Two Farmworkers Come Into Their Own, Escaping Low Pay, Rigid Hours and a High Risk of Covid-19
- Too Hot to Handle’s Francesca Farago Gives Birth, Welcomes Twins With Jesse Sullivan
- Virtually ouch-free: Promising early data on a measles vaccine delivered via sticker
- Selling Sunset’s Bre Tiesi Confronts Chelsea Lazkani Over Nick Cannon Judgment
- Survivor Season 44 Crowns Its Winner
- American arrested in death of another American at luxury hotel in Ireland
- Legendary Singer Tina Turner Dead at 83
Ranking
- Trump breaks GOP losing streak in nation’s largest majority-Arab city with a pivotal final week
- American Climate: A Shared Experience Connects Survivors of Disaster
- Your First Look at E!'s Black Pop: Celebrating the Power of Black Culture
- PGA Tour officials to testify before Senate subcommittee
- Kim Kardashian and Kourtney Kardashian Team Up for SKIMS Collab With Dolce & Gabbana After Feud
- Here's how much money Americans think they need to retire comfortably
- PGA Tour officials to testify before Senate subcommittee
- Farewell, my kidney: Why the body may reject a lifesaving organ
Recommendation
-
Halle Berry Rocks Sheer Dress She Wore to 2002 Oscars 22 Years Later
-
Lisa Vanderpump Reveals the Advice She Has for Tom Sandoval Amid Raquel Leviss Scandal
-
The missing submersible was run by a video game controller. Is that normal?
-
More ‘Green Bonds’ Needed to Fund the Clean Energy Revolution
-
When do new 'Yellowstone' episodes come out? Here's the Season 5, Part 2 episode schedule
-
Draft Airline Emission Rules are the Latest Trump Administration Effort to Change its Climate Record
-
Sagebrush Rebel Picked for Public Lands Post Sparks Controversy in Mountain West Elections
-
Tesla’s Battery Power Could Provide Nevada a $100 Billion Jolt