Tag: Olive Garden

Video Tip: Darden’s Global Supply Chains

Because supply chains (Ch.11) are such an important topic in OM, we have produced 3 video cases on the topic: Arnold Palmer Hospital’s Supply Chain, SCM at Regal Marine, and Darden’s Global Supply Chain. Since I am a regular at Olive Garden (one of Darden’s main brands), filming this 8-min. video was of personal interest.

How is it that I can order fresh fish–not frozen–here in Winter Park, FL, and be eating seafood that was caught off the coast of Thailand less than 48 hours ago? And the same for you at any of the 1,500 restaurants in the Darden family. That’s some supply chain!

Actually Darden has 4 independent supply chains it runs, of which its Seafood Network is one. There is also: the Central Distribution SC  for non-food items (housed in Orlando); its Independent SC  for locally purchased items such as produce and dairy products; and its Direct Distribution System, which uses 3rd party logistics, for other items.

Interviews with Darden’s Senior VP for Supply Management and Purchasing illustrate how critical this function is to every aspect of running a restaurant chain. It also raises the question about the complexity of maintaining 4 distinct supply chains. Should local managers be allowed to make their own purchases? How does a major chain deal with seafood shortages (“overfishing”) that occur more regularly?

More details about the seafood aspects of the supply chain are in our Supp.11 video case, “Outsourcing Offshore at Darden”.

Guest Post: Teaching Quality Control with Olive Garden Breadsticks

Here is a great Chapter 6 teaching tip that is sure to make you popular with students – especially if you offer some extra credit.  Send them on a “breadstick quality control” mission.  A number of years ago, I helped the Olive Garden Restaurant chain solve an important problem.  Their breadsticks were inconsistent.  They were varying colors, sizes and shapes.  The breadsticks are a signature item for Olive Garden, so management needed to define the extent of the problem, and to change the quality control.

I will not go into the whole process of solving the problem, but I will tell you that I began by visiting Olive Gardens and observing the breadsticks, even measuring them and recording variations in color and shape.  There was no doubt about it, there was a striking inconsistency, indicating a quality control issue.  After working with their bakeries, and finding a problem in the production chain, the restaurants once again had a delicious, high quality, consistant product.

Are the breadsticks at the Olive Gardens still consistent?  Why not send teams of students to dinner and ask them to record their observations.  With today’s technology, they can even take pictures of “problem breadsticks” and share them with the class. You can also discuss these 3 questions with the class:

  1. Why are breadsticks such an important item in the Olive Gardens?
  2. What are other examples of signature items in restaurants or other businesses?
  3. Before you visit the restaurants to do a quality control survey, what equipment do you need, and what exactly will you be looking for?

    4. 

Prof. Bill Quain currently teaches at Stockton College in NJ. He previously held endowed professorships at the U. of Central Florida and at Florida International U.