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 | | O'CHARLEY'S DONATES MORE THAN A QUARTER MILLION CHICKEN SERVINGS TO SECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE | | | O'Charley's Restaurants | | 25/09/2007 | | | Donation Is Commemorated by Chef Stephen Bulgarelli with Special Meal at Kids Cafe
Officials at O'Charley's restaurants, a leading casual-dining restaurant concept, today announced they will donate approximately 270,000 servings of chicken to Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee, one of the largest and most comprehensive food banks and food distribution centers nationwide and an affiliate of America's Second Harvest, in response to an overwhelmingly successful menu item promotion.
In June, the restaurant chain pledged to donate a six-ounce serving of chicken for every Pretzel Crunch Chicken entree sold during a nine-week, special Limited Time Offer (LTO) Wild Kitchen menu promotion. Every time a guest chose the new menu item, O'Charley's donated a serving of chicken. "Our research indicated Pretzel Crunch Chicken would be a popular item because it's a familiar item, yet has a unique twist. Using crushed pretzel pieces as a breading for the chicken was unprecedented, yet the pretzel flavor and accompanying mustard- and dill-based dipping sauce were comfortable and familiar. It was, literally, a winning combination," said Jeff Warne, O'Charley's concept president. "We aggressively estimated that we would serve approximately 120,000 of the entrees. Wow, were we wrong!"
"Guests not only tried it, they loved it," he noted. "Between June 18 and August 20, we sold 270,000 orders of the special LTO item, more than doubling our initial projections.
"The whole experience produced very positive results for everyone involved. Our guests received a great meal while helping to fight hunger in our region, O'Charley's and Case Farms, which provided 5 percent of the donation, helped support an important non-profit organization, and Second Harvest will receive more than 100,000 pounds of chicken to feed thousands of our neighbors in need."
The equivalent of two truckloads of chicken will be distributed throughout Second Harvest's network of feeding partners, which includes soup kitchens, daycare centers, senior centers, and Meals on Wheels programs. Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee serves facilities in 46 counties.
O'Charley's runs five or six Limited Time Offerings annually to introduce new flavorful items to its guests. The six- to10-week promotions feature appetizers, main courses, beverages and desserts, some of which ultimately make it to permanent menu status.
The Pretzel Crunch Chicken entree, created by O'Charley's chefs, features chicken tenders breaded with the company's proprietary crushed pretzel coating and special seasoning of herbs and spices. "Our past LTO menus have been well received by our guests, but the Pretzel Crunch Chicken was an unqualified smash hit," Warne said. "In fact, it was so popular that we will be adding it to our permanent menu in October."
"This is the largest single donation of chicken we have ever received," said Jaynee Day, president and CEO, Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee. "Chicken is gold in food banking. A donation of this size and quality just doesn't happen. It's like Christmas arriving early. Our relationship with O'Charley's spans more than 20 years. They have been one of our largest supporters, and we are most thankful for their extremely generous gift."
Special Chicken-based Meal Created for Kids Cafe
To commemorate the extraordinary donation, Chef Stephen Bulgarelli, O'Charley's vice president of culinary development, and Ken McConnell, O'Charley's manager of research & development, created and prepared a special chicken-based meal for Kids Cafe, a program of America's Second Harvest. Chef Bulgarelli and McConnell personally served pizzas topped with fresh spinach, roasted tomato and chicken on Thursday, Sept. 20 to approximately 200 children, ages five to 14, at Thompson Lane Boys & Girls Club in Nashville. Second Harvest provided whole fruit and granola for special yogurt parfait desserts.
Kids Cafe is an evening-meal program specifically designed to feed children from low income families and provide them with the physical and emotional nourishment critical to healthy development. The Nashville Kids Cafe program provides nutritionally balanced meals for underprivileged children one to four nights per week at 16 sites, with the Thompson Lane facility serving meals four nights a week.
"The special chicken pizza was a big hit with our kids, and we are delighted that O'Charley's extended its incredible generosity to include the Kids Cafe program," Day said.
About O'Charley's Inc.
Headquartered in Nashville, Tenn., O'Charley's Inc. is a multi-concept restaurant company that operates or franchises a total of 365 restaurants under three brands: O'Charley's, Ninety Nine Restaurant, and Stoney River Legendary Steaks. The O'Charley's concept owns and franchises 241 restaurants in 19 states in the Southeast and Midwest, including 230 company-owned and operated O'Charley's restaurants in 16 states; four franchised O'Charley's restaurants in Michigan; one franchised restaurant each in Iowa, Ohio, and Tennessee; three joint-venture O'Charley's restaurants in Louisiana and one joint-venture O'Charley's in Wisconsin. The menu, with an emphasis on fresh preparation, features several specialty items, such as hand-cut and aged USDA choice steaks, a variety of seafood and chicken, freshly baked yeast rolls, fresh salads with special-recipe salad dressings and signature caramel pie. The company operates Ninety Nine restaurants in 114 locations throughout Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont. Ninety Nine has earned a strong reputation as a friendly, comfortable place to gather and enjoy great American food and drink at a terrific price. The menu features a wide selection of appetizers, salads, sandwiches, burgers, entrees and desserts. The company operates 10 Stoney River Legendary Steaks restaurants in Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio and Tennessee. The steakhouse concept appeals to both upscale casual-dining and fine-dining guests by offering high-quality food and attentive customer service typical of high-end steakhouses, but at more moderate prices.
CONTACTS: Melissa Thompson Jerry Daly Vice President, Corporate Communications Daly Gray Public Relations O'Charley's Inc. (Media) (615) 782-6908 (703) 435-6293 SOURCE O'Charley's restaurants | |
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