Did Red Lobster purposefully doom itself with the infamous Endless Shrimp deal?

Red Lobster’s Everyday Endless Shrimp deal seemed too good to be true. In June of 2023, the promotion was turned into a permanent menu item, offering customers unlimited servings of shrimp for just $20. The move was a head-scratcher: How could a deal like that possibly be profitable? Turns out, it wasn’t—and a new lawsuit claims that may have been on purpose. The Red Lobster GUC Trust, a liquidation trust formed when Red Lobster filed for bankruptcy in 2024, is suing former majority stakeholder Thai Union Group, a Thai seafood company. The lawsuit alleges that Thai Union treated Red Lobster “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.” That included limiting Red Lobster’s choice of seafood suppliers, interfering in its leadership, and pushing for the Endless Shrimp deal that led to the company’s bankruptcy, according to the lawsuit. ‘A car crash’: How endless shrimp doomed Red Lobster The lawsuit’s complaints start with the appointment of Thai Union employee and Red Lobster Master Holdings GP Board member Paul Kenny as interim CEO. Kenny and Thai Union allegedly drove the former CEO to resign, then pushed Red Lobster to purchase massive amounts of “overpriced Thai Union Shrimp,” even in the face of insolvency. Then came the Everyday $20 Ultimate Endless Shrimp deal, which the lawsuit calls “a campaign to squeeze out every drop of value” from Red Lobster. The lawsuit claims that despite company leaders being warned that the deal would lead to significant losses, they moved forward with the deal, also banning one of Thai Union’s competing seafood suppliers. “Overpriced” ingredients and the deal’s cheap price tag allegedly led directly to Red Lobster’s bankruptcy filing. The promotion “turned a successful legacy Red Lobster strategy to drive traffic into its restaurants into a car crash,” reads the complaint. Even a price hike from $20