Olive Garden raising menu prices again
Celebrity chef Andrew Gruel discusses the rising cost of doing business in California as a beloved fast-food chain is forced to close 48 locations throughout the state.
Olive Garden customers can expect menu prices to increase in the near future after the popular Italian restaurant chain has kept price hikes well below inflation in recent years, parent company Darden Restaurants said this week.
Darden CFO Raj Vennam told analysts on the company's earnings call Thursday that Olive Garden menu prices for this year are «to be more in line with inflation» in the 2.5% to 3% range, spread over the next four quarters.
A sign hangs on the front of an Olive Garden restaurant on June 22, 2023, in Chicago, Illinois. (Scott Olson/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Vennam said Olive Garden has kept pricing «very modest» over the past five years, under-pricing by roughly 20% compared to the overall consumer price index (CPI), which he said rose by close to 23% during that same time frame.
«We feel like we've done a lot of work on keeping prices low and we're going to continue to do that,» he reiterated, noting that Olive Garden raised menu prices by around 1% last quarter.
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Olive Garden's same-store sales have fallen for two consecutive quarters, dropping 1.5% last quarter and 1.8% in the one prior. However, Darden's earnings beat Wall Street expectations thanks in part to stronger sales at its LongHorn Steakhouse restaurants.
Customers enter an Olive Garden restaurant in Pittsburg, California, on Dec. 9, 2022. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Darden CEO Rick Cardenas said on the call that consumers right now «are
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