Olive Garden Follows McDonald’s Bet on Value: Will Never Ending Pasta Pass Strategy Work?

With inflation and higher costs at the grocery store and restaurants, Olive Garden is turning to affordability as a major hook to win over consumers, with never-ending and all-you-can-eat playing into its annual pasta promotion.

This year’s promotion gets a leg up with the return of the "Pasta Pass."

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Olive Garden Brings Back Pasta Pass

Fresh off a recent fourth-quarter earnings report, restaurant giant Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) is betting on value at its Olive Garden locations this fall, with the annual never-ending pasta promotion returning.

For the first time in six years, the Pasta Pass is back, which will coincide with the annual never-ending pasta at Olive Garden restaurants.

The Pasta Pass allows a guest to get free never-ending pasta, never-ending breadsticks, and all-you-can-eat soup and salad each day of the 13-week promotion running from Aug. 24 through Nov. 22.

Only 10,000 Pasta Passes are available and they go on sale Thursday, July 16 at 2 p.m. ET. There are multiple rules for the pass, including dine-in only and needing to show ID matching the person’s name on the pass.

However, the ability to get free pasta each day during the promotion far outweighs the cost, if used correctly.

The Pasta Pass includes unlimited protein toppings as well, which is an additional cost for the $14.99 starting price for this year’s never-ending pasta event at restaurants.

Available for $100, the Pasta Pass will probably sell out on Thursday and raise $1 million for Olive Garden. Consumers would need to use the pass seven times to pay for the $14.99 price point, not including protein, to break even. Counting the $4.99 protein cost, the number of visits to break even drops to five.

Unlike the last time the Pasta Pass was offered, Olive Garden will not be selling a Lifetime Pasta Pass, which had a cost of $500 previously and covered the promotion each year.

Olive Garden sold 24,000 Pasta Passes back in 2019, priced at $100 each, according to Forbes.

Bet on Value

Each year, Olive Garden offers the never-ending pasta promotion, and it is a key driver to get consumers into restaurants.

While the price has gone up in some years, the value remains there for consumers who know they can eat more than one dish of pasta.

For the restaurant, the promotion is about getting consumers into the restaurant and selling them additional items such as appetizers, dessert or drinks, and also getting their information for rewards programs and email lists.

McDonald’s Corp (NYSE:MCD) has been the king of value lately, with earnings reports showing the company’s focus on value meals and cheaper food options winning over consumers.

McDonald’s is not only seeing higher sales, but also increased visit frequency, something others in the restaurant space are jealous.

Another thing helping McDonald’s is the decision to bring back popular menu items that haven’t been offered in years, which can also provide a boost in traffic and bring back guests.

Olive Garden offers its never-ending pasta every year, but this year’s iteration may be more about value and winning back some returning guests, especially with the launch of the Pasta Pass.

Time will tell if the restaurants will see a boost in sales and revenue on a year-over-year basis.

Photo by Jonathan Weiss via Shutterstock