Restaurants Group Jumps On Consortium Bandwagon

Darden Restaurants Inc., which owns Olive Garden and Red Lobster, has teamed with the Sustainability Consortium, an organization composed of corporations worldwide focused on improving consumer product sustainability, according to a University of Arkansas press release.

Darden has already set goals to reduce per-restaurant water and energy consumption by 15 percent by 2015. Darden also hopes to eventually send zero waste to landfills.

 “We are pleased to welcome Darden Restaurants to the consortium as the first restaurant company member,” said Jon Johnson, director of the Applied Sustainability Center at the University of Arkansas. “The company’s leaders have set aggressive goals regarding sustainability, and they will undoubtedly bring a wealth of knowledge and innovative ideas to the table.”

The Sustainability Consortium, jointly administered by the UA and Arizona State University, develops methodologies, tools and strategies to create new products and supply networks that address environmental, social and economic issues. The Consortium is focused on addressing these issues using a scientific foundation.

Darden which owns and operates 1,800 restaurants that generate more than $7 billion in annual sales, is the largest full-service restaurant company in the world.

Darden owns Red Lobster and Olive Garden restaurants in Fayetteville and Rogers. For the first two months of 2010, the Red Lobster and Olive Garden in Fayetteville had sales of $506,062 and $587,985, respectively, according to figures released by the Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission. Sales totals for the Red Lobster and Olive Garden restaurants in Rogers were unavailable.

Among its efforts to build more sustainable restaurants, Darden has opened an Olive Garden in Jonesboro, built by Fayetteville-based C.R. Crawford Construction, that is the world’s first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certified casual dining chain restaurant.