How Red Lobster’s misguided endless shrimp promotion drove it into bankruptcy

Last summer, Red Lobster made $20 endless shrimp a permanent menu item.

Last summer, Red Lobster made $20 endless shrimp a permanent menu item. Endless shrimp was a successful annual limited-time offer for Red Lobster for 20 years. But Red Lobster’s latest major shareholder, Thai Union, a Bangkok-based canned seafood company, saw the promotion as a way to sell off the mountains of shrimp it was catching and turned it into an everyday item. (Thai Union became Red Lobster’s largest investor in 2020.) The change cost Red Lobster $11 million. Red Lobster filed for bankruptcy Sunday, and the bankruptcy filing sheds new light on Thai Union’s role in the endless shrimp mishap. Red Lobster said it is investigating the circumstances of that promotion, which Red Lobster management opposed. Under a CEO appointed at the direction of Thai Union, Red Lobster eliminated two of its breaded shrimp suppliers, leaving Thai Union with an exclusive deal to provide shrimp for the chain, the filing said. That led to higher costs, and it did not comply with the company’s typical decision-making process for picking suppliers based on projected demand, according to the chain’s filing.