RED LOBSTER CUTS TAGS TO GRIP SALES

JACK ROBERTIELLO

Orlando, Fla. -- Red Lobster, the nation's largest dinner house restaurant chain, last month cut its prices, increased entree portions and jazzed up its menu with new dishes the company hopes will boost traffic.

The menu changes are designed to reduce check averages but increase customer numbers, said Tim Rosendahl, Red Lobster's vice president for food and beverage. "We're looking at refocusing the whole system of what Red Lobster stands for across the board," he said.

The chain will now feature 15 entrees priced lower than $10, putting pressure on other dinner chains to follow suit.

Red Lobster is also attempting to shed its image for serving tiny shrimp by making 16/20 count shrimp its new standard unit size, Rosendahl said. "We're looking at even bigger sizes, too," he said. "Part of our new way of doing things is we don't have to have enough for all our 600 restaurants. If we can only supply 300, so be it. But, because nobody else has the buying power of shrimp that we do, we'll be able to get what's available."

If Red Lobster goes through with plans to buy larger count farm-raised black tiger shrimp, the effect would be negligible on seafood retailers dealing with consumers, especially since the large shrimp already go primarily to restaurants, said Bill Chauvin, president of New Orleans-based seafood marketing consultant Shrimp World.

As the largest seafood restaurant chain, Red Lobster's individual stores will be allowed to feature regional specialties, like stone crabs, on an ad hoc basis, Rosendahl said, another change from Red Lobster's previously uniform national menu.

As part of the attempt to reverse sluggish sales and profits at Red Lobster, the company has also added advertising that boosts the new menu's value, and put greater emphasis on training and improving service, said a restaurant analyst who was supportive of the changes.