The $20 “Endless Shrimp” deal that ultimately sent Red Lobster into bankruptcy wasn’t just a failed experiment – but a scheme by its owners to squeeze the company, according to a new lawsuit.
Leading up to its 2024 bankruptcy filing, Thai Union – a major seafood producer and then-owner of Red Lobster – was trying to “squeeze out every drop of value” from the iconic restaurant chain, according to a suit filed last month in the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court in Florida.
“Thai Union treated the Company as little more than a distribution arm for its own products, milking whatever value it could from Red Lobster, especially as the Company became insolvent,” the suit said.
It was filed by a trust on behalf of Red Lobster creditors, who say they were owed about $295 million when the chain filed for bankruptcy – and are now demanding a jury trial to determine monetary damages.
Red Lobster and Thai Union did not immediately respond to noti.group’s requests for comment.
Bloomberg earlier reported on the lawsuit.
Thai Union turned Red Lobster’s all-you-can-eat deal from a limited-time offering into a permanent menu fixture, even though it “made no economic sense” – and effectively transformed “a successful legacy Red Lobster strategy” into “a car crash,” the suit said.
Red Lobster lost a whopping $11 million in a single quarter from the disastrous deal.
But it was an exercise in “self-dealing and exploitation,” as the boost in demand from the deal forced Red Lobster to buy up copious amounts of shrimp from Thai Union at inflated prices – even as average spend per diner declined, according to the complaint.
In 2016, Thai Union – a Bangkok-based seafood giant known for brands like Chicken of the Sea and Genova – bought a minority stake in Red Lobster. Four years later, it obtained majority control of the American chain.
As Red Lobster was struggling to stay afloat amid pandemic-era store closures and stiff competition, Thai Union sent several representatives to Red Lobster’s headquarters in Orlando, Fla. – where they allegedly made it clear who was in charge, according to the lawsuit.
Immediately upon his arrival, Paul Kenny, a Thai Union shareholder, “made clear that he – not [CEO Kelli] Valade – was in charge. Within weeks, Valade resigned after serving only seven months as CEO,” the suit said.
In August 2022, Kenny was named the chain’s interim CEO, and Thai Union soon “took control of shrimp purchasing in part by embedding its own operatives in Red Lobster’s decision-making process,” the suit said.
Kenny allegedly started interfering with the process for awarding supplier contracts, often remarking that Red Lobster “owed it to Thai Union to purchase its products exclusively,” according to the lawsuit.
In 2023, Kenny banned a longtime supplier of pre-breaded shrimp for a year – making Thai Union the chain’s sole provider of nearly half of its shrimp products and enabling it to “charge Red Lobster significantly more … than the going market rate,” the suit said.
Later that year, Red Lobster defaulted on a loan from Fortress Investment Group, which then took control of its board.
In January 2024, Thai Union announced that it would divest for the company. Red Lobster is now owned by an investment group led by Fortress.
Fortress did not immediately respond to noti.group’s request for comment.
The American seafood chain is now in the midst of a turnaround effort being led by CEO Damola Adamolekun – the 37-year-old who was hired in August 2024 after helping revive PF Chang’s.
In April, Red Lobster revived the “Endless Shrimp” deal – though this time, it’s back to a limited-time stay on the menu.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
