Red Lobster’s new CEO explains what went wrong with endless shrimp
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- Опубліковано 4 жов 2024
- Embattled Red Lobster has a new CEO, and he’s just 35 years old. CNN reporter Nathaniel Meyersohn sat down with Damola Adamolekun over some shrimp and lobster tail to chat the future of the seafood company and the young CEO’s approach to work. #cnn #news #redlobster
Shot by Zach Wasser, Benjamin Evans, FJ Feng
Editor/Producer: John General
Senior Producer: Alexandra King
Reporter: Nathaniel Meyersohn
He seems like a good CEO. Too bad he wasn't in place earlier. Sounds like he understands actual restaurant operations which most CEOs do not. Best of luck to him.
Seems like a CEO who would get his hands dirty with the average worker
As he stated... He was a waiter... So he's worked his way up through all channels... So he knows the business from the bottom
@@JStorm13something uv done before
It was not endless Shrimp. It was tapeworm called private equity.
Every Chinese buffet near me has "endless shrimp" and the price is about $15-20 depending on the place, yet they have been doing well for decades.
@@BlindedByLogicthat’s different from having 500+ stores under one franchise doing the same thing
@@thetruthsayer8347 Finance bros loaded up the business with debt then declared bankruptcy.
EXACTLY!!! and red lobster owned almost all of their properties and when the private equity firm came in and took over, they sold the properties and leased it back to red lobster company essentially killing the company
Nope
Still blaming the shrimp? We know the venture capitalists are to blame, not the fat Americans. The VC's sold the properties the stores were on, then made them rent back the spaces, causing over 100 locations to fold. But sure, keep blaming the customers 🙄
So Americans aren’t empirically overweight??
That dude had never seen a shrimp in his life... Much less ever eaten seafood or ben to the ocean 😂 he's from the streets
Yup exactly well said.
@@lynch6642you sure about that? He looks like he puts a lot of shrimp in his mouth
@@lynch6642from the streets? U weak lil minded adult…even in the hood shrimp is eaten with that being said…😂😂😂YOU MAD THAT BLACK MAN RUNNING A COMPANY AND ABOUT TO TURN IT AROUND!!
A lot of talk without actually saying anything. Endless shrimp was only a very small piece of the problem. Venture Capitalists are about as anti-American as you can get.
@@Ryan-yw5fp , can you believe they're still trying to blame the shrimp AFTER the reporting about the VC's f-ing everything up?
This man is clearly creating wholistic solutions to fix the MANY problems Red Lobster had. You are extremely simple minded if “endless shrimp” is the only thing you walked away with😂….. So much to handle that can’t fully be addressed in this 3 minute video! But he also mentioned, investing in technology, hvacs, decor, old carpets, big menus, product quality, employee stress, and customer wait time. Sounds like he’s giving the entire company a facelift.
35 years old? That's pretty impressive
Look at what he did to the company though
@@Jeff-m9o2e Did you even watch the video? He was just appointed CEO, he has a fantastic track record.
@@Jeff-m9o2e Damola Adamolekun is one of the most successful young executives on the block. He initially led PF Chang, achieivng over 1 billion dollars in revenue for the chain. He was a fantastic investment banker who formerly worked at goldman sachs. Red Lobster went bankrupt months Damola was appointed, he was appointed to rescue the company out of bankrupty.
Are you just down right illiterate or plainly ignorant?
@@Jeff-m9o2e Tell us you have no idea what you're talking about with as few words as possible.
DEI makes anything possible
too bad they didn't focus on the overlords who bought the land and raised rent prices....endless shrimp isnt what killed red lobster
😂😂 You know this, why?
Thats how corporate power works. CNN doesn't care about a lobster restaurant chain. This is public relations to promote the new CEO as a business genius, and they make their commercial advertising look like new reporting. It doesn't make sense that CNN work interview a restaurant CEO. Who cares? This is a commercial.
Nope , your wrong
Bro, what destroyed red lobster was that they sold the land the stores sat on and then rented them back at a higher cost
I agree that that was probably the primary factor but could you imagine owning a seafood restaurant in today's economy also? Imagine owning any restaurant...
Not even close. Lol they had a CEO and board that decided to work with companies that worked with cheap labor and subpar shrimp.
Not even close at all. It was a business decision to work with cheap corporations with subpar shrimp and other fish products. They got away from quality and went with cheapness.
@@ArizonaSquatch If so, then why did they have such long lines to eat? Thinking you may have part of the problem, but it’s more like a combination.
Nope , your wrong
When he said, "Please, take the whole thing, I have had it plenty of times!" it reminded me of Gus Fring (Breaking Bad). And now I can't unsee it.
Now that you said that, I do get those “ Gus Fring Vibes ). But, don’t you worry, I have a remedy for that.
I never cared much for Red Lobster, but now I’m excited to see what he can do for the restaurant. Will check it out in a few years.
Diversity hire never improved anything. Like when Yahoo made that woman CEO
excited lol
I don’t really eat seafood but all of a sudden I have a hankering
Endless shrimp my ass..They would bring you super small amounts and you wouldnt want to keep waiting on a server instead of bringing enough..Whats 4 shrimp going to do.
It wasn't normal shrimp they were serving. It was subpar mini shrimp. Not of good quality
We found the guy in the chat who wants more for less
There was frequent “shrimp challenge” on social media, who could eat the most shrimp… without ordering anything else… that’s not how you run a business…
@@nychris2258 Welcome to the United States of America.
Endless shrimp may work in another country but Americans have no shame and will eat until they die
Nigerian CEO at 35. Very smart man 🇳🇬 🇳🇬 🇳🇬
What does race have to do with this
@@zombiewombb He is only stating facts! Race has something to do with it because you made it a point to comment about race specifically
We all know corporate Greed killed Red lobster.
People just sitting for hours eating endless shrimp should have been seen from a mile away. That imagery is also hilarious 😂
I had a friend who was from Maine tell me he was headed back for Lobster Fest. I said, “you don’t need to go to Maine for lobster fest, there is a red lobster right here in town” he laughed and said not that lobster fest, it’s a big celebration in my hometown. I asked if the Red Lobster in his hometown is packed during lobster fest and he said not only is there not a Red Lobster in Maine, but he has never been inside one in his life and equated a Red Lobster in Maine to a Panda Express in China. Nobody would ever go in there.
Endless shrimp wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. They just let it go on for too long. It should’ve been very limited in its structure. Literally only a few days a week and only for a few hours of the day. In fact, it should’ve only been in season for a certain time of year. It should’ve been very structured very restrictive because shrimp are expensive and when you can eat them endlessly it could really cut into a companies profits and that’s what happened here.
Taking a more inelastic product and selling it in a model made for elastic food product was not good business. Especially when there were no close competitors doing the same
Yes, somehow the previous moron management had no business sense…
Very intelligent young man.
I missed out on endless shrimp. It was fast and furious.
A friend & I ended up at Red Lobster for lunch 5 months ago. We were both shocked at how good the food was! I never really gave it a chance in the past, but I will definitely go again. We enjoyed our meals very much.
The Cajun Fettuccine Alfredo is the best I have had at any restaurant. The Cheddar Bay biscuits are really good too.
@@Vincent67337 Yup, the biscuits are absolutely delicious! Dang, I’m gonna try the Cajun Fettuccine. Thanks!
And what is his tinder username? C’mon CNN don’t leave me with a cliffhanger
Woah, I’ve never seen such a young CEO of a major company. And he looks even younger than he is too. Very impressive for someone to be this young and CEO. But hearing him speak, I’m not surprised a major company would have confidence in him
Not impressive, it's called DEI.
@@zvmZvm0102wow…please! But if he was “white” what would it be called ?
It seems that black hires being labeled “DEI” has become the new obsession.
@@zvmZvm0102how about is fucking track records ?
@@zvmZvm0102 how's that DEI ? That means any black person that's intelligent, and can do the job will be accused of only getting a job due to his ancestry. That's such a rediculious and petty statement. What would make you feel more comfortable? An old white guy ? What ? What you're saying is that no matter how much education, intelligence, and networking skills, he will always be deemed unworthy?
Plus, his surname sounds Nigerian. Nigerians and other western Africans are some of the most intelligent and successful immigrants in universities and the workplace in America and north america today. It sounds like you have a bias.
Do I think DEI should exist? No, but to accuse every black person as a dei hire is quite racist and only reinforces proof that some people in society are bigots and jealous. God BLESS that young CEO.
@@zvmZvm0102 Let me ask you something, if Trump choose Ben Carson, who I think would be a much better VP pick, over Vance, would he be a DEI hire or no ?
Wish you all the best, hope you turn RED LOBSTER around, it's an iconic brand!
Remember your supply chain. It's your lifeline. If you have one sole provider you're going to leave yourself in a world of hurt and Red lobster should have known better.
Greed from a lazy CEO and board.
A very dishonest take on what happened.
I ate 12 shrimp my daughter also. Her son had a kids meal. The bill was $60.
It ain’t the shrimp it’s the greedy bean counters that destroyed the company.
A multitude of new CEOs will not fix the problems.
It was never about the shrimp. LOL
Ok, Endless Shrimp, bad. But can you bring back the King Crab Legs? Those are dope AF yo!
OMG-100% agreed!!!
He gave away that lobster tail faster than he could say he’d had it plenty of times.
Bankruptcy in 3 2 1 right before they announced, it's been the best year ever... !!! I love corporate almost as much as government
Send Bubba Gump in the post hurricane waters to catch some shrimp.
Short selling a stock is when you borrow stocks at a certain price with the promise to pay it back at market price at a predetermined date. These vulture capitalists take over a company and run it into the ground while their associates short sell as much of the company stock as they can, knowing that when the company is completely run into the ground and files bankruptcy they will not have to repay the stock that they shorted. The CEOs that they put in place to destroy the company will get huge severance packages. the original venture capitalists will now break the company down into tiny pieces and sell off any assets and walk away with billions while workers are just devastated. While the company is just devastated. While the country is just devastated. They walk away scot-free with more money than anyone could ever spend in 10 lifetimes.
WHEN ARE WE GOING TO LEARN THAT YOU CANNOT REEL THESE PEOPLE IN AND YOU CANNOT STOP THEM FROM DESTROYING EVERYTHING TO MAKE A BUCK???
Stunning and said in a way anyone can comprehend. When you have no less than say 38% of the population always looking for ways to take advantage of free market capitalism, it’s makes life a bitch for those who want all who work hard to prosper. This is why laws need to exist to control out of control capitalist.
The problem was to quit having chefs prepare food and going to frozen cruise ship style meals and cutting quality and quantity and charging more for less 😊
Now if they took away the free cheddar biscuits, they would go out of business.
People don’t eat at Red Lobster bc it’s nasty, especially to those of us that live near coastal areas. They don’t season their food, besides their biscuits.
I'm the reason 😅...i ate 135 shrimp one sitting.
This explains why the company went bankrupt 🤦♀️
1. At one point it had an endless crab leg promotion. They controlled their costs by slow service. 2. My local Chinese buffets can serve all you can eat shrimp and prosper. There is no reason that Red Lobster can't figure out the proper price point to make a profit too.
That wasn't shrimp 🫨😵💫😵
Most important companies in American history LOL
Fifty bucks a plate for paper napkins and frozen vegetables. And somehow that plan passed the straight face test in the Red Lobster board room. That's why.
Greed.
More success to him , what most CEOs forget is the people who work for them (Employees) in any business Employees are the most important people, they are the ones who determines whether your business will grow........To all CEOs put your Employees 1 before you put customers 1st ,without Employees there's no customers
Amen
So, this is just a 3 minute ad for Red Lobster? Where the new head omits mention of what really brought the company down? I guess the journalist got distracted by all that yummy seafood 🙄
Same parent company, I assume. And yeah all news media is marketing in one way or another. :/
Congratulations my brother
"Without exaggeration, this is one of the most important companies in American History." ... Sounds like something Trump would say.
So something is wrong with being patriotic?
TDS on a video about red lobster even? You guys are bit too obsessed.
Its a commercial that is supposed to look like news reporting. This is advertising to promote the new CEO as a business genius to help with their financial turn around. You notice they never mention who owns it or what happened after the parent company of Olive Garden sold it?
I took it as a statement from a business standpoint and not as a brag. He said it was “important” not “great”. That could mean a number of things from a commerce and economical perspective. He’s clearly very educated. Perhaps he has special insight into the company’s impact that was cut out of the interview.
He may have been referencing how Red Lobster served and hired Black Americans when other restaurants and establishments refused to do so during legalized/social segregation.
Good luck taking on a company choking on private equity-incurred debt.
What happened was they promoted endless shrimp and they always ran out of options of types of shrimp dishes they had in stock. People get pissed and never return because the company lies to the public. They will close this business again within 2 years.
0:55 this new CEO at least has common sense… What idiot gave expensive food (or anything) away or unlimited?? Yes blame the previous venture capitalists, but the previous moron management was also to blame…
Last Time I when to RL it cost uslaves $110 Dollar for Two Meals = NO Value
Yep its a rip
Did everyone have matching towels?
@@gordleith9474
The endless shrimp isn’t the problem. They have been doing that for decades. It’s the refusal to change with time.
Instead of endless shrimps, how about just lowering the prices
Workout endless shrimp, I have no incentive to ever go into a red lobster again 🤷🏿♂️
He sounds like a very intelligent and articulate CEO. 35 with the insight of a 50 year old CEO. I think Red Lobsters in good hands now in a very difficult industry.
Hopefully they can offer more fresh product, most of what they have is frozen. especially the shrimp, but the lobster tails too, I can get those at Sam's Club & Costco.
Redlobster turned into TRASH!! They don’t even make the Biscuits there anymore.
We went last weekend and the first place stunk to high heaven, dirty, cobwebs and the biscuits were overcooked… And the representative by DFW airport said that’s just the way they are😳. WTF!!
Talk about the poor land lease and land deals
*There ARE going to be restaurants...
I don't understand people. Why would you go to a restaurant and eat and eat and eat. I saw one you tube video where people were making it into a contest in the endless shrimp deal. I sit down and eat and when I am full I stop. It wasn't Red Lobster who bankrupted this company it was that glutenous diners. I wish the new CEO good luck. I survived three combat tours in 'Nam on C-rations so I have lost the importance of food in my life other than to survive.
If every young American was as hardworking, ambitious, and smart as this young man is, imagine where America could get to within the next few years. Unfortunately, most young Americans are too busy partying and wasting their money and lives.
If the new CEO really thinks that endless shrimp caused Red Lobster to fail, then the company is still in allot of trouble.
He also said the menu needs to be smaller as well so he didn't say just endless shrimp.
Nathaniel Meyersohn avoid the treyf.
I need a lot more than 3 minutes and 12 seconds of this!
Known a lot of folks who worked at the Crimson Crustacean, all hated endless shrimp. It ain't the shrimp's fault anyways, it's renting the properties to the restaurants Instead of letting them own them outright.
I really like that he’s level headed and practical. He knows what works for him (not everyone), and can use experience as a reference.
Finally, a CEO of a company who doesn't sound like a moron.
"The Sears story shows how hedge fund operators can thrive even as the underlying company is pillaged. In a decade, 175,000 people at Sears/Kmart lost their jobs and revenue was cut in half. Various pieces of Sears were sold off. Lampert did just fine.
His net worth soared to over $8 billion after he did the Sears deal. In some years, he made over $1 billon just in income. After ballooning by several billion in the years when Sears stock was high-flying, Lampert's reported net worth is back down to something like $2 billion-below its peak but still astronomical and all based on taking down one of America's great companies."
Endless Food + 🇺🇸 = 😮
Wishing Damola and Red Lobster the best! Personally the Salt Lake City, Red Lobster stood out to me in service, and product, would never have known it was a chain.
Sounds like this CEO is gonna bring success to the business. Comes across as friendly , too , in a reserved sort of way. Best of luck ! We don't have Red Lobster where I'm at but they might expand to our part of the world . Who knows .
Good luck brother. The restaurants definitely need an upgrading
Red Lobster is NOT the McDonald's of seafood, nor should it strive to be!That said, As a single person dining there, I s
hould not be leaving $ 65 less! I had the crab
special and water, no dessert! PASTA was the majority of the meal! I stopped going and bought 5 pounds of crab legs for less than $45!! Red Lobster deserved bankruptcy!! Let's see how they like working harder and less profits !!! They took advantage of their customers and the market being the ONLY high end seafood restaurant! Now they're crying about money?? Heal thyself!!! It's not about the shrimp fiasco, but a poor economy and a greedy company that has been severely mismanaged!
I’ve had thoughts about Red Lobster for a long time now, but have not said anything until now. This is my feeling about Red Lobster. In the location where I live there used to be a “McGrath’s fish house“ a few blocks away from Red Lobster. I had only ever eaten at McGrath’s and got used to their menu and their prices. When McGrath’s closed in my area, that left only Red Lobster. My sister and I share birthdays 1 day apart in August, so for a few years we chose Red Lobster for our celebratory meal, but we both cringed at the prices. Along with this, I am a veteran and in our area-(in fact with-in 2 buildings of our local Red Lobster) are other restaurants varying from steakhouses to halibut to burgers to ice cream cones, and it became clear to me quickly, that these other establishments were willing to show their respect to vets by giving a free meal to the veterans and if it isn’t a free meal at least an entrée. Some give nothing and some give an appetizer, but once I saw what Red Lobster would give which is a dessert or an appetizer from a specific menu before there were any financial problems with Red Lobster we began to pull away from going there for our yearly birthday celebration, but let me be clear. It wasn’t because of what they give to the veterans or don’t give… It was because of the prices. My sister and I both love shrimp and I cannot speak for others, but I do know that when we took advantage of the all you can eat shrimp we were never pigs about it. We never ordered more than we could eat right at that moment and it never was more than having the waitress come back one time after our original meal was put in front of us. I can only imagine that maybe some took advantage of this but at least with our local Red Lobster you could not get any food to go from the all you can eat. It was what you can eat while you’re there. Again, I want to state that we got used to the other seafood restaurant prices and we always agreed between ourselves that a good tasting meal along with good customer service was something we were more than willing to pay a higher price for but it got to the point with our economy that we just could not afford to go to Red Lobster anymore. Along comes the closing of some Red Lobster, restaurants and the headlines that was happening MOSTLY because of “all you can eat shrimp“
I am NOT buying this, no no no. Not when the parking lot and the restaurant remained full of people dining at Red Lobster and as I said, the prices. Just to go in for an appetizer and a drink or a salad and a drink was no longer in our budget. (We always included our tipping practices when considering Red Lobster and we are both good tippers. I truly believe in my heart there has to be more to this than what is being said, and that is no slam on the new CEO. I hope that he and the restaurants flourish and that he makes changes to the prices & the menu. With or without “all you can eat shrimp” we would return if it becomes affordable again. 🙏💚
It was endless & shrimp costs money, so unless your bank account is accordingly endless....
Im not a CEO and i know what the issue is. For seafood people like to get it "farm to table" they eat at local places. Also businesses like Cousins Maine(Shark Tank) lobster is destroying them competition wise.
Damn I only went to red lobster for the endless shrimp🤷🏾♂️
When you make a customer sit and wait for HOURS for enough food to be full, you'll have problems.
Meh. The local Red Lobster has the worst cooks. Last time I ate there the food took an hour to get and was cold and overcooked when it didt get to me. Then the manager, whom admitted the poor quality, did absolutely nothing. I'll cook my own.
They owned the company the shrimp came from. They were selling to themselves. Over priced seafood. The real estate is worth multi millions. They were never in trouble. The public stopped the con. Good for us!!!
I decided to treat myself to red lobster a few weeks ago… while I wasn’t expecting fine dining, I was also expecting a decent, edible meal. It tasted like Applebees at twice the price. Food quality overall needs great improvement.
Why do the biscuits taste cheap now? 😂
The food is horrible now . I went to one 2 weeks ago. I hope he turns it around.
Oh you're the idiot that ruined PF Changs by changing the recipes that made them famous and the complete reason we never go there any longer, just another horrible restaurant that was once great and changed by choosing greed over quality.
We were there about a week ago on a Wednesday and they were rolling just fine. Maybe you're one of the few who are upset. Which is natural as you will never have 100% customer satisfaction in a large chain.
Dude looking like a young gus fring 😂
*$750 for devastated Americans, $BILLIONS for Ukraine and Israel!!*
I single handedly caused Red lobster delemia...i ate all the shrimp
First of all if you go out to dinner for a family of four it’s gonna cost you $170 minimum with the tip. I’m a single guy. I drive a taxi for a living. I am divorced almost 30 years never to marry again I’m in Southern California, I went today from Ontario international airport to Morongo casino with the passenger. I went into the coffee shop lemonade, chowder, spaghetti, and meatballs without the tip $30. The only reason why I went in was because my passenger paid for it. Everything is out of fucking control you cannot afford to do anything but go to work and go home. That’s all I do.😢😢😢
01:11 that guy clearly didnt care about endless shrimp 😆
A CEO that cares about employees well-being, don't see that very often.
Endless shrimp was pointless just needs higher quality food
In the red lobster shouldn’t have blown so much cash on matching towels
LOL please tell me more how Red Lobster is "one of the most important companies in American history?" Dude is a clown for that statement.
Impressive. I'd love to know more about his background and the path he took that enabled him to become CEO of PFChange at only 30 years old. He should be doing guest lectures at colleges' MBA program if he isn't already doing that.
DEI
@@jonasbreen7236stop being jealous
@@jonasbreen7236 , Look at his background, MBA Harvard business school, etc, stop hating. Damola Adamolekun is, quite literally, a man of the world. The P.F. Chang's Chief Executive Officer, son of a neurologist and pharmacist, was born in Nigeria, raised in Amsterdam, Springfield, Ill., and Columbia, Md.
Along with running his foodservice empire, Adamolekun also serves as a managing partner at Paulson & Co., the hedge fund that purchased the chain for $700 million in 2019.
Adamolekun received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Brown University, where he was a member of the Ivy League champion Brown Football team and served as President of the Brown Investment Group and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School
@@jonasbreen7236 Grow up. His track record and results are A++.
What went wrong with endless shrimp you just answered you're own question I think
Why is red lobster a news story? Its microwaved seafood calm down.
Because the CEO is a young BLACK MAN.
@@armandhammer2235 and………
Because it’s an American icon- that’s why.
@@armandhammer2235 You’re a prejudiced mook😒
@@GeechieDan-uu9wm 😂
Seriously the menu is like mcdonald comercial where you order the Big mac meal and you really get a small burger, Red lobster proportion are not even close to the menu picture but smaller
Well, they lost me as a customer no endless shrimp. That was the one thing I went to red lobster for I got a whole bunch of other options no reason to go to red lobster anymore.
Good CEO. I don't even like seafood & I'd visit Red Lobster now.
I like the garlic biscuits 😋
It's called investors want more profit because they're greedy endless shrimp was a gold mine Forever
Bring back chain restaurants
Alright sir
Understood
🎉🎉
Bring back trans fats
Why? They suck. The quality ends up suffering.
i have a feeling hes gonna do great and hopefully he make greats changes i trust him, hes work from ground up unlike previous CEOs of companies.
Wow impressive young CEO
This guy will completely destroy Red Lobster 😢
Добрый вечер! У нас в России говорят так : какую кухню предпочитаете : французскую , немецкую , русскую , грузинскую , армянскую , китайскую , средиземноморскую ? Ответ : давайте , начнём с французской и по - порядку. Как - то , одни креветки , не очень!😮 Один из салатов на Новый год делаем с креветками. Но только - один. Далеко не каждый гость любит креветки!