Olive Garden has recently begun an experiment intended to diversify its menu with a “lighter portion” section. With this new offering, intended to attract customers’ shifting preferences. It’s consistent with a larger strategy by its parent company—Darden Restaurants—to double down on concepts that will accelerate same-store sales growth. The test is now rolling out to 40% of Olive Garden stores nationwide.
These new lighter portion choices will be offered at dinner servings, and all-day on weekends. This menu section provides modestly sized versions of seven of their most popular entrees. Now, customers can enjoy all of their classic dining favorites at a much lower cost! This smart play is in line with changing consumer dining trends pushing toward value and more control over portion sizes.
Rick Cardenas, the new CEO and president of Darden Restaurants, has a tall order. The broader goal of this experiment is to increase overall sales performance. He pointed out that same-restaurant sales at Olive Garden locations that serve these smaller-sized portions are up almost 6%. Moreover, vehicle congestion at these sites increased by an average of nearly 3%.
Focusing on those areas, including the introduction of lighter portions have had an overall positive effect on customer perceptions of affordability. Cardenas found a 15% increase in affordability scores at restaurants with the new items. Feedback from customers has been phenomenal, with many stating they were pleasantly surprised by the large portion sizes, which provided great value for the price.
“We are adding price breadth to the menu so consumers can choose,” – Rick Cardenas
Cardenas underscored that Olive Garden will continue providing “generous portion sizes” for customers who prefer more food. Even with the eventual change of introducing smaller portion sizes, they will never betray serving big. By utilizing both methods, they can reach a broader spectrum of customer needs and wants. Simultaneously, it stays true to the brand’s heritage of hearty portions.
Olive Garden operates over 900 restaurants across the country. Its 99,517 employees make it the single largest employer in the casual dining industry. The brand is always testing out new lighter portion alternative. This is a testament to its commitment to continually evolve offerings in line with customer feedback and changing market demands.
