Corporate Social Responsibility - Darden Restaurants Vs Bloomin' Brands

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (DRI) and Bloomin Brands, Inc. (BLMN) are two of the nations leading casual dining restaurant chains with competing brands in each segment of the market. Both companies have made strides to invest in initiatives surrounding corporate social responsibility.

Darden Restaurants, located in Orlando, FL, currently employs over 150,000 employees throughout over 1500 restaurants and prides themselves on being a global leader in hospitality. The company was founded by Bill Darden, who opened his first restaurant in 1938 called The Green Frog. Years later, the first Red Lobster was opened in 1968 in Lakeland, Florida. In 1982, George McKerrow, Jr. and his father opened the first Longhorn Steakhouse in Atlanta, Georgia, which would later be acquired by Darden as a part of the RARE acquisition in 2007. Meanwhile, Darden opened their first Olive Garden in Orlando, Florida. Up until this point, what is known today as Darden was formerly part of General Mills. Darden was spun off into its own publicly traded restaurant group on the New York Stock Exchange in 1995. The company went on to develop their island-inspired concept known as Bahama Breeze in 1996. In 2003, the first Seasons 52 was opened with their seasonally-inspired menu. Along with the 2007 RARE acquisition, Darden gained The Capital Grille, which was first opened in 1990. This concept diversified Darden’s restaurant portfolio and gained the company a significant share of the fine dining market share. Further acquisitions included Eddie V’s in 2011 – a fine dining seafood concept, and Yard House in 2012. Red Lobster was eventually sold to Golden Gate Capital, a private investment firm, in 2014 due to shareholder pressure to release the outdated concept that was hurting the company’s stock price.

Darden is currently ran by Gene Lee, CEO. Gene came to Darden with the acquisition of RARE. Gene had been working for RARE since 1997. With RARE, Gene was the Executive Vice President of Operations for Bugaboo Creek and later, Longhorn Steakhouse. After much success in those roles, he was promoted to the company’s Chief Operating Officer. In 2001, Gene was named the President of Rare and was elected to the Board of Directors. Gene’s 30+ years of restaurant experience made him a very attractive candidate for Darden’s next CEO. Gene served as interim CEO beginning in October 2014 when Clarence Otis left the company and was named the official CEO in February 2015.

Aside from its running of restaurants, Darden has made a strong commitment to actively being a part of the growing movement towards corporate social responsibility. In 2010, the company announced its Sustainable Restaurant Design Initiative and opened its first LEED-certified Olive Garden in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Darden attended Coca-Cola’s Annual Sustainability Summit where they recognized four themes, which they quickly began to