It seems like Olive Garden has discovered its trump card.
The flagship of Darden Restaurants has witnessed strong results when it comes to its delivery services, as same-store sales have increased 4.7%.
This follows Olive Garden’s decision to start offering first-party delivery through the Uber Direct service more than a year ago.
As a result, delivery now accounts for 4% of Olive Garden sales and “about half” of those sales are considered an additive, Restaurant Business Magazine reported.
“This channel attracts younger, more affluent guests who crave Olive Garden at home, value convenience and order more frequently,” CEO Rick Cardenas shared with analysts. “These guests have a higher check average than dine-in guests.”
If you’re like me, you might have checked third-party delivery apps such as UberEats or DoorDash to see if Olive Garden is available there. But Darden said the chain is staying away from those apps for now.
“The two big third-party delivery providers know what our concerns are on third party and, you know, as long as we get a solution for those concerns, then we would look at it,” Cardenas said. “Wouldn’t make sense for us not to look at it. But we really do have some concerns, and they know what they are.”
Despite delivery has become a huge contender these past couple of years, and not just because of the pandemic, as affluent customers are choosing convenience over affordability.
As food delivery apps like DoorDash have gained in popularity, many long-term holdouts have begun to use them.
For example, Dominos, the popular pizza brand, began marketing its delivery services on third-party providers’ apps earlier this year.
Domino’s uses the services differently from Olive Garden, as it provides the actual delivery and uses the apps to market its pizzas. This method allows Domino’s to control the actual delivery process.
Meanwhile, Olive Garden is utilizing Uber drivers to deliver its food but is keeping the ordering of those items on its own website and mobile app.
By choosing this route Olive Garden controls the marketing and data, as well as not having to discount items.
For Cardenas, the decision has produced meaningful results.
“We like the Uber Direct platform the way we have it, and it’s doing a really good job for us, and it’s not causing a lot of challenges for our restaurants,” he said back in March, according to a transcript on the financial services site AlphaSense.
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