Saving Seafood

Red Lobster’s latest turnaround initiatives include new seafood boil flavors, cocktails

November 13, 2025 — Restaurant chain Red Lobster, which has implemented several initiatives intended to turn around sales after emerging from bankruptcy last year, has released new flavors for its seafood boils, as well as cocktails and new entrées, to further boost sales.

The Orlando, Florida, U.S.A.-based operator of more than 500 restaurants globally first launched seafood boils as part of its Crabfest promotion this summer. At that time, it debuted the Mariner’s Boil, which includes a Maine lobster tail, a dozen shrimp, snow crab legs, corn, and red potatoes, and the Sailor’s Boil, which features shrimp, smoked sausage, corn, and red potatoes.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US FTC cautions Red Lobster, other restaurants on their seafood marketing efforts

October 2, 2024 — U.S. Federal Trade Commission Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya recently sent a letter to the top-grossing seafood restaurants in the country, cautioning them not to give their customers the false impression that they are eating wild-caught U.S. seafood when they are, in fact, serving imported, farm-raised seafood.

“Many Americans are willing to pay a premium for wild-caught, American seafood. Those customers deserve to know when they are being offered the genuine article – and when they are being offered something else,” Bedoya said in the letter sent to Red Lobster, Long John Silver’s, and Legal Sea Foods, among other companies.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Red Lobster places bankruptcy in the rearview, but not its debts

September 18, 2024 — Red Lobster announced its exit from Chapter 11 bankruptcy on 16 September after gaining the newly created RL Investor Holdings as its new owner and officially appointing Damola Adamolekun as CEO.

RL Investor Holdings is an entity created by funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group, alongside co-investors TCW Private Credit and Blue Torch.  With the company taking over as the chain’s new owner, Red Lobster has exited its bankruptcy status.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Court Approves Red Lobster Bankruptcy Plan; Over 500 Restaurants to Survive

September 6, 2024 — Seafood restaurant chain Red Lobster announced that it has received court approval for its Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan.

As part of the plan, RL Investor Holdings will acquire the chain. RL Investor Holdings is an entity created by funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group LLC, alongside co-investors TCW Private Credit and Blue Torch.

The deal is expected to close by the end of this month, per a statement from Red Lobster.

The sale also means that Red Lobster will remain an independent company with 544 locations across the U.S. and Canada. Bloomberg also reported that 30,000 employees will be retained.

On completion of the sale, Red Lobster will name Damola Adamolekun CEO, and Jonathan Tibus, who has served in that role during the company’s reorganization, will step down and leave Red Lobster.

Read the full article at Seafoodnews.com

Red Lobster sale approved, but bankruptcy plan opposed by US trustee

September 5, 2024 — The sale of Red Lobster to Fortress Credit was officially approved at a hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on 5 September, even as the U.S. trustee overseeing the bankruptcy case is opposing confirmation of the restaurant chain’s bankruptcy plan.

In late July, Red Lobster canceled an auction to sell its assets and announced that Fortress Credit – Red Lobster’s primary creditor – would be purchasing the company’s assets instead.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US seafood companies, retailers dinged for using certification logos to make sustainability claims

August 30, 2024– A series of lawsuits related to sustainability claims and eco-labels have changed the seafood industry’s approach to marketing sustainability bona fides, with lawsuits filed against Walmart, Mowi, Gorton’s, ALDI, Conagra, Bumble Bee Foods, and Red Lobster either pending or resorting to settlements.

The suits should be a wake-up call to the seafood industry that it needs to change its marketing practices, according to Arlin Wasserman, the founder and managing director of seafood industry consultancy Changing Tastes. Wasserman, who was previously the vice president of sustainability at foodservice provider Sodexo, said the suits have fundamentally altered the calculus of whether eco-labels are still worth using.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Thai Union claims Red Lobster owes it nearly USD 4 million due to demand forecast discrepancies

July 17, 2024 — Thai Union has claimed in a court filing that restaurant chain Red Lobster owes it, along with its subsidiary Tri-Union Frozen Products, which conducts business as Chicken of the Sea Frozen Foods, nearly USD 3.7 million (EUR 3.4 million).

Thai Union, a longtime seafood supplier and former part-owner of Red Lobster, said in a filing to U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Orlando, Florida, that Red Lobster’s financial distress and “abrupt reductions of purchasing volumes caused Thai Union to accumulate a “high level” of excess inventory – valued at around USD 22.9 million (EUR 21 million).

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Red Lobster exploring reorganization instead of continuing with bankruptcy

July 11, 2024 — Nearly two months after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, restaurant chain Red Lobster announced at a court hearing on 10 July it is considering pursuing an alternate path: reorganization

The Orlando, Florida, U.S.A.-based chain, which, for now, operates 570 restaurants, is still aiming to sell its company either to Fortress Credit – a private investment firm that focuses on distressed companies, has USD 48 million (EUR 44.3 million) under management, and is Red Lobster’s biggest creditor – or to other potential buyers.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource