Olive Garden hiking menu prices again despite admitting losing customers to inflation

Published

3 months ago

June 21, 2024

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Olive Garden said it plans to keep raising its menu prices — even as top executives admitted that sales dropped in the latest quarter as inflation-hammered customers pulled back on visits.

Olive Garden’s same-store sales — or sales at stores open at least a year, a closely watched industry metric — fell 1.5% in the quarter ended May 26 — missing Wall Streets expectations for flat sales, the chain’s parent company Darden revealed.

In a Thursday earnings call with analysts, Darden executives blamed the sales shortfall on financial stress among its less-wealthy clientele, who continue to grapple with rampant food inflation.

“Consumers are generally concerned about inflation and they are becoming more concerned about the job market,” chief executive Rick Cardenas said on the call.

According to financial chief Raj Vennam, “The pullback is mostly at the below-median household income,” adding, “our other [customer] groups are stable or growing.”

But that isnt stopping Orlando, Fla.-based Darden from hiking prices this year. The company is loathe to discount its food to lure in customers, CEO Cardenas said on the call.

Companywide, Darden — which also operates the LongHorn, Ruth’s Chris and Capitol Grille steakhouse chains, says it will raise prices companywide on average by 2% to 3% over the next 12 months.

Menu prices at Olive garden rose by 1% late last year.

They will rise again this month, executives said, without giving specifics.

Were not going to do things to buy sales even with the increasing discounting our competitors are doing, Cardenas said. Our focus is on profitable sales growth.

Darden estimates that its same-store sales growth in fiscal 2025 will increase by 1% to 2% and that customer traffic will improve this year as inflation comes down, Vennam said.

Last year we had a little too high profit margin, Vennam said. It was industry leading and we had talked about not pricing as much this year.

Its the second consecutive quarter that that same-store sales fell at Olive Garden following a 1.8% decline in the previous quarter.

Other major restaurant chains including Applebees, Cracker Barrel and McDonalds whose CEOs have attributed slowing sales to lower income consumers spending less at restaurants.

McDonalds said Thursday that it is introducing a $5 value meal starting next week for the summer to entice customers mostly those earning less than $75,000 a year who have stayed away amidst ever increasing menu prices.

We heard our fans loud and clear theyre looking for even more great value from us, and this summer, thats exactly what theyll get, the US president of McDonalds Joe Erlinger said ina statement.

Similarly, casual dining chains Chilis and Applebees are touting a $10.99 combo meal called 3 for Me that includes a burger, fries, an appetizer and unlimited beverages and 2 for $25 meal deal, which includes an appetizer to share or two side salads, plus two entrees, respectively.

Darden said LongHorn Steakhouse is edging out Olive Garden as the best performing chain in the companys portfolio.

The budget-friendly chop house was the only brand to grow sales, notching a 4% same store sales increase in the quarter, the company said.

LongHorn customers padded their checks with add ons including parmesan crusting, and a new lamb entree, Vennam said on the call.

Dardens shares were up nearly 3% to $156 by mid-morning.

Business

Labour lures BlackRock chief Fink to flagship investment summit

Published

2 hours ago

September 21, 2024

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Labour lures BlackRock chief Fink to flagship investment summit

The boss of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, will attend the new government’s flagship investment summit next month amid suggestions it is struggling to attract large numbers of high-calibre international business figures.

Sky News has learnt that Larry Fink, BlackRock’s chairman and chief executive, will attend the 14 October gathering, which will be held at a prominent central London venue.

Mr Fink, who was also present at a similar event organised by the Conservatives in 2021, will be among the most influential global bosses to attend.

Among the others who have agreed to come are Margherita della Valle, the Vodafone chief executive, Hemant Taneja, CEO of technology investor General Catalyst, and John Graham, who runs the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, one of the world’s largest pension plans, Sky News understands.

David Solomon, boss of the Wall Street bank Goldman Sachs, will also be there.

The emergence of some of those attending comes as Labour battles suggestions that it will struggle to draw the 300 industry leaders it pledged in early August.

Sources said fewer than 150 companies had confirmed their bosses’ attendance, with just over three weeks until the event takes place.

Roughly 100 ministers, metro mayors, officials and other government-connected figures are also expected to be present.

One insider insisted this weekend that “quality is more important than quality” and said the government remained on track to have 300 people at the summit.

That figure may ultimately be reached but comprising both the government and private sector delegations.

They questioned, however, why a formal numerical target had been set publicly when the summit was being staged at such short notice.

“It’s made us a hostage to fortune,” said one.

The event, which Labour vowed during the general election campaign to hold within 100 days of coming to power, is being seen as a key test of its economic credibility.

Whitehall officials are keen to announce investment deals worth tens of billions of pounds on 14 October, although whether they will hit this target is unclear.

Some corporate bosses, including the heads of Blackstone and JP Morgan, have declined the invitation, citing diary commitments.

Those two companies are expected to send alternates to the event, with Blackstone being represented by Lionel Assant, one of its most senior private equity executives.

Until recently, the government had insisted that only CEOs would be able to attend, with their invitations not transferable, according to insiders.

Aviva, Barclays, BT Group and HSBC Holdings will be among the FTSE-100 companies represented by their CEOs.

The business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, told the Financial Times this weekend that details of the government’s industrial strategy would be set out before the investment summit.

That is expected to include the appointment of a chair for its Industrial Strategy Council, although it faces going into the event without an investment minister being appointed.

The summit will also be politically delicate given that it comes just a fortnight before Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, delivers her first Budget – with higher taxes affecting many of those attending on October 14 expected to feature prominently.

The Department for Business and Trade declined to comment, while none of the companies contacted by Sky News would comment.

Environment

Mitsubishi Fuso cleans up, putting 89 electric garbage trucks to work in Greece

Published

2 hours ago

September 21, 2024

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Mitsubishi Fuso cleans up, putting 89 electric garbage trucks to work in Greece

The Greek cities of Athens and Thessaloniki are popular tourist spots, and those tourists are about to breathe a little bit easier – literally! – thanks to nearly 90 new electric garbage trucks from Mitsubishi Fuso.

The Daimler-owned Mitsubishi Fuso brand has been making big moves since export of its newest electric eCanter medium duty truck kicked off earlier this year. First expanding to Hong Kong, and now taking orders in the EU.

“Thanks to its compact dimensions and high chassis load capacity, the electric Next Generation eCanter is ideal for waste disposal companies that drive on narrow roads,” says Florian Schulz, Head of Sales, Marketing and Customer Services. “In addition, the vehicle is locally emission-free and quiet, so that garbage can be emptied early in the morning in densely populated areas. This makes it particularly suitable for municipal applications.”

One of the most important goals the cities’ governments had was to quiet down the garbage collection process. To that end, Greek body manufacturer KAOUSSIS has put a lot of development work into the upfit body to quiet the hydraulic and compaction actions. The company is calling its refuse body “the first of its kind,” creating a market advantage for the electric eCanter while meeting all EU technical regulations for operating waste disposal vehicles with standing personnel.

The hydraulic system employs proportional, electro-hydraulically operated directional valves that operate at a maximum pressure of 180 bar. KAOUSSIS says it’s specially designed for EVs, and is compatible with garbage bins between 80 and 390 liter (aka: really big) capacities. The lift also features a dynamic weighing system that records the weight of the waste with an accuracy of up to ±0.5 kg (about a pound).

“We have had a very close cooperation with KAOUSSIS for over 30 years,” says Antonios Evangeloulis, Director of Sales & Marketing of the Greek importer & general agent for Daimler truck products and services Star Automotive Hellas. “All the necessary tools, safety measures, technicians, training and certifications are in place and we are able to offer excellent after-sales support for these vehicles. Overall, it was an exciting project that we were able to realize together.”

Forty of the new electric refuse trucks are expected to be deployed by the end of November, with the balance expected to be delivered over the course of 2025.

Electrek’s Take

Mitsubishi Fuso eCanter; via Daimler Trucks.

Electrifying the commercial truck fleet is a key part of decarbonizing city truck fleets – not just here in the US, but around the world. I called the eCanter, “a great product for moving stuff around densely packed city streets,” and garbage is definitely “stuff.”

Here’s hoping we see more “right size” electric solutions like this one in small towns and tight urban environments stateside somewhat sooner than later.

SOURCE | IMAGES: Daimler Trucks, via Charged EVs.

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Politics

Lisa Nandy says Sir Keir Starmer ‘very sensible’ to accept football tickets worth thousands

Published

4 hours ago

September 21, 2024

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Lisa Nandy says Sir Keir Starmer 'very sensible' to accept football tickets worth thousands

Lisa Nandy has said Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to accept thousands of pounds worth of football tickets was “very sensible”.

The minister for culture, media and sport also said she had never accepted free clothes from a donor.

Speaking to Sky News at the start of the Labour Party conference today, the MP for Wigan said: “The problem that has arisen since [Sir Keir] became leader of the opposition and then prime minister is that for him to sit in the stands would require a huge security detail, would be disruptive for other people and it would cost the taxpayer a lot of money.

“So I think he’s taken a very sensible decision that’s not the right and appropriate thing to do, and it’s right to accept that he has to go and sit in a different area.

“But I know that he’d much rather be sitting in the stands cheering people on with the usual crowd that he’s been going to the football with for years.”

Ms Nandy also said while she has not accepted free clothes – joking “I think you can probably see that I choose my own clothes sadly” – she doesn’t “make any judgements about what other members of parliament do”.

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She said: “The only judgement I would make is if they’re breaking the rules, so they’re trying to hide what they’re doing. That’s when problems arise.

“Because the point of being open and transparent is that people can see where the relationships are, and they can then judge for themselves whether there’s been any undue influence.”

She asserted there had not been an undue influence in gifts accepted by senior Labour figures, adding: “We don’t want the news and the commentary to be dominated by conversations about clothes.

“We rightly have a system, I think, where the taxpayer doesn’t fund these things. We don’t claim on expenses for them. And so MPs will always take donations, will always take gifts in kind.

“MPs of all political parties have historically done that and that is the system that we have.”

She added: “I don’t think there’s any suggestion here that Keir Starmer has broken any rules. I don’t think there’s any suggestion that he’s done anything wrong.

“We expect our politicians to be well turned out, we expect them to be people who go out and represent us at different events and represent the country at different events and are clothed appropriately.

“But the point is that when we accept donations for that or for anything else, that we declare them and we’re open and transparent about them.”

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Sir Keir, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves said yesterday they will no longer accept donations in the future to pay for clothes.

The announcement followed criticism of Sir Keir’s gifts from donors, which included clothing worth £16,200 and multiple pairs of glasses worth £2,485, according to the MPs’ register of interests.

The register shows Ms Rayner has accepted clothing donations to the value of £2,230.

Sky News also revealed the scale of Sir Keir’s donations this week as part of our Westminster Accounts investigation.

Sir Keir was found to have received substantially more gifts and freebies than any other MP – his total in gifts, benefits, and hospitality topped £100,000 since December 2019.