We believe there is a significant growth opportunity in full-service dining because our industry addresses two increasingly important human needs. First and foremost, we offer time-starved consumers great tasting food that is rich in variety, physically nourishing and more convenient than cooking at home. Just as important, we offer emotional nourishment – through attentive service that anticipates the needs of our guests and provides the opportunity to relax or reinvigorate, and to reconnect with friends and family.
At Darden, our brands have to deliver these category benefits. But, to be competitively superior, they must be differentiated from and more relevant than the other choices available in the marketplace. This allows our brands to build deeper emotional connections with our guests. That's why Brand Management excellence is at the core of our strategy for achieving sustainable growth.
Our Brand Management expertise starts with robust research to understand who our guests are, how they live their lives, what they need today and how those needs may change over time. Armed with this inspired insight, we work to create and evolve compelling restaurant experiences that speak to guests emotionally and physically. Each brand's promise for a differentiated experience then serves to align all touch points a guest experiences when visiting our restaurants.
And that's where our Restaurant Operations expertise takes over. From the time guests enter our parking lot, receive a warm, friendly welcome, are shown to their table, enjoy their food, and are genuinely thanked on the way out for letting us serve them, we are delivering on the promise of the brand. And we do this through thousands of employees for millions of guests each week.
Successfully delivering on the promises we make involves fully staffing our restaurants with terrific people to whom we are providing exceptional employee experiences. That means employees are clear about their role in delivering on the brand promise. They receive the competitively superior training and tools they need to run great shifts – to be "brilliant with the basics." And, they are treated with a level of respect and caring that creates strong emotional commitment and motivates tremendous discretionary effort.
In short, the brand-building expertise Darden brings to the table when we combine Brand Management and Restaurant Operations excellence is as much about inspiration as it is execution... it is both art and science.
