Darden lauds eight 'instrumental' suppliers with annual Distinguished Vendor awards

Nation's Restaurant News,  July 23, 2007  

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ORLANDO, FLA. -- Darden Restaurants Inc., the 1,400-unit casual-dining company based here, honored eight suppliers with its William B. Darden Distinguished Vendor awards at this year's National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show in Chicago.

Named for the late founder of Darden Restaurants, the award recognizes suppliers that provide innovative products and services that contribute to the restaurant company's success in the past year.

This year's honorees are:

* Ecolab Equipment Care, GC Services Inc., which helped Olive Garden with an oven upgrade and grill calibration program.

* Lakeview Farms, which provided new products to Bahama Breeze that reduced cost and complexity.

* Lotito Foods, which offset costs, decreased returns and provided an overnight-delivery emergency service.

* Microsoft, which revised software, enabling Darden to reduce operating costs and operational business disruptions.

* Promarisco S.A., which was the first shrimp vendor to adopt a vendor-managed inventory program.

* Save On Seafood, which became the first fresh fish and shellfish supplier to employ I-Kitchen, an online program used to manage restaurant product orders and inventories.

* T. Marzetti, which developed sauces for Red Lobster and new salad dressings and sauces for Smokey Bones.

* Windsor Foods, which participated in Olive Garden's national campaign for stuffed rigatoni, the chain's most successful promotion to date.

Darden's chief executive, Clarence Otis, said the 2007 award recipients were "instrumental in Darden's success this past year."

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