Endless Shrimp is BACK at Red Lobster… a headline few people in the business world would have predicted.

The promotion played an over-hyped role in the company's 2024 bankruptcy filing, mostly because it was easier to explain than a bad real estate leaseback deal led by investors at the time – the actual cause of Red Lobster's financial trouble.

Their new CEO, Damola Adamolekun, is best known for leading the turnaround at P.F. Chang's and was handpicked by Fortress Investment Group, the investors that bought Red Lobster out of bankruptcy.

In November 2024, Adamolekun told Today he had ended the Endless Shrimp promotion "Because I know how to do math." And yet… six weeks before the end of the company's fiscal year… it looks like their best hope.

In this episode of the Art of Supply podcast, Kelly Barner looks back at Red Lobster:

- How much progress the company has made since their bankruptcy

- The cost pressures, both internal and external, they are struggling to overcome

- And the impact a media-savvy CEO has been able to have on restaurant traffic

Links:

Ultimate Endless Real Estate Costs at Red Lobster https://artofprocurement.com/blog/supply-ultimate-endless-real-estate-costs-at-red-lobster

Kelly Barner on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelly-barner-6884443/

Art of Supply LinkedIn newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/art-of-supply-6895142546301960193

Art of Supply on AOP: http://www.artofsupply.com

Subscribe to the Art of Procurement Newsletter: https://resources.artofprocurement.com/art-of-procurement-podcast-subscribe

China's new supply chain regulations may be one of the biggest global trade and sourcing stories that almost nobody is talking about.

Decree 834 and 835 quietly took effect - immediately - on April 7th and 13th. If China decides to enforce them, they could fundamentally change how multinational companies approach sourcing, reshoring, compliance, and supplier diversification.

In this episode of Art of Supply, Kelly Barner breaks down China's newly enacted Decrees 834 and 835 — regulations designed to protect Chinese industrial and supply chain security, while potentially penalizing companies that attempt to diversify away from China.

Listen to discover:

- What China's Decrees 834 and 835 mean for Western (and China-owned) businesses

- Why reshoring and China +1 strategies may now carry new risks

- How companies could become trapped between conflicting U.S., EU, and Chinese regulations

- Why ordinary supplier due diligence and compliance audits may now face additional scrutiny

- The growing concern over "extraterritorial" enforcement and China's expanding economic leverage

- Potential penalties ranging from market restrictions to sanctions on individuals

Links:

Kelly Barner on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelly-barner-6884443/

Art of Supply LinkedIn newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/art-of-supply-6895142546301960193

Art of Supply on AOP: https://artofsupply.com

Subscribe to the Art of Procurement Newsletter: https://resources.artofprocurement.com/art-of-procurement-podcast-subscribe

During the pandemic, some buyers and suppliers made aggressive bets about the future.

Demand was surging, capacity was constrained, and everyone worried more about shortages than oversupply. For a while, it looked like the logic was sound, but now one of those agreements has turned into a $175.5 Million jury verdict.

Boston Beer Company (through its subsidiary American Craft Brewery) has been found liable in a dispute with their supplier Ardagh Metal Packaging over minimum can purchase requirements.

The contracts that offer safety during times of scarcity can quickly become liabilities when markets normalize. Companies increasingly have to navigate both realities at the same time.

In this episode of the Art of Supply podcast, Kelly Barner covers:

- The background of the Ardagh Metal Packaging and Boston Beer Company dispute

- Why pandemic-era supply assumptions created long-tail contractual risk

- The legal arguments around minimum purchase commitments and supplier quality claims

- What this case teaches us about flexibility, forecasting, and commercial risk allocation

Links:

Kelly Barner on LinkedIn

Art of Supply LinkedIn newsletter

Art of Supply on AOP

Subscribe to the Art of Procurement Newsletter

"We have seen a transformation between the public sector and the private sector in terms of their relationship. We've seen enormous change in this country." - Guy Battle, CEO of Social Value Portal

The U.K. Social Value Act of 2012 requires all public sector buyers to ask suppliers how much their business will contribute to the community if they win the work up for bidding. It has not just become a differentiator among supplier proposals, it has shifted how the government is awarding its contracts.

Contributions to social value are now being included in the award process alongside cost and quality.

Guy Battle is the CEO of the Social Value Portal, and the author of a recent article published in the Journal of Public Procurement: "Social value as a lever for achieving value for money and community outcomes in procurement." He describes social value as a business's answer to the question: How do you contribute to our environment, support the local community, and bolster the local economy?

In this episode of the Art of Supply podcast, Guy discusses social value with Kelly Barner in the context of:

• The longer term corporate social responsibility (CSR) and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) movement
• Current regulations, and how they started a shift that has moved beyond compliance
• What has been required to allow social value to build momentum and achieve scale
• How public sector policy can drive change across the private sector supply base

Links:

• Guy Battle on LinkedIn
• JoPP Article: Social value as a lever for achieving value for money and community outcomes in procurement
• Kelly Barner on LinkedIn
• Art of Supply LinkedIn newsletter
• Art of Supply on AOP
• Subscribe to the Art of Procurement Newsletter

Amazon packages represent 15% of the United States Postal Service's package volume, but about 7.5% of their revenue. Amazon is USPS's biggest customer, even though Amazon passed the USPS to become the largest domestic parcel carrier in 2025.

The current Amazon - USPS agreement expires on September 30, 2026, just days before the USPS may run out of the cash required to operate. Amazon has signaled that they would like to replace the USPS with their own network, but doing so will be more expensive than the company may have bargained for.

In this episode of the Art of Supply podcast, Kelly Barner covers the public positioning and power dynamics playing out between Amazon and the U.S. Postal Service:

• The history and current status of the relationship between the two organizations
• How the U.S. Post Office is trying to bring market pricing into their negotiations with shippers - and how Amazon responded to that strategy
• Why the final outcome in this story is something all consumers may be affected by

Links:

• UPS Picks Profitability Over Volume, and The Teamsters Push Back
• Kelly Barner on LinkedIn
• Art of Supply LinkedIn newsletter
• Art of Supply on AOP
• Subscribe to the Art of Procurement Newsletter

"This was a company that was once all about volume, was all about customer service, was all about growth, was all about sales, was all about creating jobs." - Sean O'Brien, General President, International Brotherhood of Teamsters

In 2024, Amazon accounted for 11% of UPS's revenue but between 20% and 25% of U.S. network volume.

When UPS announced that they were planning to reduce their Amazon package volume by over 50% in early 2025, the market responded negatively. Not only did their revenue decline, but they were also forced to reduce headcount by 48,000, shutter 93 facilities, and restructure their delivery network.

UPS is working through the fallout resulting from that decision, which includes offering six-figure buyouts to unionized drivers. The Teamsters are pushing back hard, arguing that even voluntary driver buyouts violate contract terms and undermine union protections.

This may look like a story about cost cutting, but it's really about UPS's efforts to shift from volume to profit margin in a competitive market.

In this episode of the Art of Supply podcast, Kelly Barner covers:

• Why UPS is cutting Amazon volume and what that means for them financially, operationally, and from a labor perspective
• The structure and controversy of the 2025 and 2026 driver buyout programs
• The Teamsters' legal and contractual response to the company's current plan
• The broader implications for supply chains and labor

Links:

• Kelly Barner on LinkedIn
• Art of Supply LinkedIn newsletter
• Art of Supply on AOP
• Subscribe to the Art of Procurement Newsletter

"If you focus too much on efficiency, you might get something cheap – but it doesn't deliver what you want. If you focus too much on effectiveness, you might spend more than you need. Those two sides need to be balanced." - Andrew Quincey

It is much more difficult to measure value than savings, so even the most skilled procurement professionals tend to focus on savings instead of value. If, however, it is possible to identify why something is being done and how it is being done, procurement will be positioned to drive better overall outcomes.

Andrew Quincey is a procurement professional and academic with Leeds University Business School in the U.K. In this episode of Art of Supply, he comments on a recent article he wrote for the Journal of Public Procurement: "Achieving Value for Money Equilibrium."

He highlights how procurement can move beyond execution to play a more strategic role across the entire value chain, with a special focus on complex public-sector environments.

In this episode, Andrew and Kelly Barner discuss:

• The concept of "value for money equilibrium" and how balancing effectiveness and efficiency can lead to better outcomes
• How and why complexity increases exponentially in procurement projects, and what to do about it
• Practical ways procurement can move upstream, influence strategy, and engage more effectively in the "why" behind purchasing decisions

Links:

• Achieving value for money equilibrium (Emerald Publishing)
• Kelly Barner on LinkedIn
• Art of Supply LinkedIn newsletter
• Art of Supply on AOP
• Subscribe to the Art of Procurement Newsletter

"What happens clear across the world has a very, very big impact, potentially, to U.S. cargo. We've had to take a wider lens look at all of the risks." - FMC Chairman Laura DiBella

The Federal Maritime Commission is an independent, bipartisan agency of the U.S. federal government responsible for overseeing the international ocean transportation system as it relates to U.S. cargo. The FMC's jurisdiction centers specifically on U.S. cargo wherever it moves globally, regardless of vessel ownership or location.

FMC Chairman Laura DiBella has a diverse background that spans commercial real estate, economic development, and maritime operations. Before joining the FMC, she served as Florida's Secretary of Commerce and held leadership roles supporting port operations and maritime stakeholders, including the Florida Harbor Pilots Association.

In this episode of the Art of Supply podcast, Chairman DiBella and Kelly Barner discuss three major ongoing cases that the FMC is actively involved in:

• An investigation into global chokepoints, including the Northern Sea Passage, English Channel, Malacca Strait, Singapore Strait, Strait of Gibraltar, Panama Canal, and Suez Canal
• How flags of convenience are impacting worker safety and perpetuating the "shadow fleet"
• An investigation into allegations that Spain has blocked U.S. ships from docking in their ports

Links:

• Chairman Laura DiBella on LinkedIn
• Federal Maritime Commission
• Kelly Barner on LinkedIn
• Art of Supply LinkedIn newsletter
• Art of Supply on AOP
• Subscribe to the Art of Procurement Newsletter

"If you don't figure out a way to treat your carriers ethically and help them make money, you're not going to have them." - Michael Riccio, former TIA Chairman and founder of More Than Miles Consulting

In this episode, Kelly Barner is joined by two leaders from the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA): Michael Riccio, former TIA Chairman and founder of More Than Miles Consulting, and David Abell, CEO of AM Transport Services and a TIA Board Member.

Together, they explore the newly launched Freight Leadership Lab, a program designed to elevate leadership, ethics, and professionalism across the freight brokerage industry. From personal career journeys to the realities of ethical decision-making under pressure, this conversation offers both practical insights and a compelling vision for the future of freight.

Listen in to hear Mike, David, and Kelly discuss:

• How the TIA's new Freight Leadership Lab is developing the next generation of freight brokerage leaders
• The importance of ethics in freight brokerage, including how leaders can navigate gray-area decisions under time pressure
• Practical insights into the role of culture, values, and "extreme ownership" in building stronger teams and better decision-making habits
• A broader perspective on the future of freight brokerage, including why investing in people and relationships is key to raising professional standards across the industry

This conversation goes beyond freight—it's about leadership under pressure, ethical decision-making, and building sustainable businesses. Whether you're in logistics, procurement, or any fast-moving industry, the lessons here are broadly applicable.

Links:

• Mike Riccio on LinkedIn
• David Abell on LinkedIn
• TIA's Freight Leadership Lab
• Kelly Barner on LinkedIn
• Art of Supply LinkedIn newsletter
• Art of Supply on AOP
• Subscribe to the Art of Procurement Newsletter

"With tariffs in the news again and the trade policy environment shifting, folks are back to wanting to relearn about the [foreign-trade zone] program."

Foreign-trade zones (FTZs) allow companies to bring goods into secure U.S. locations without immediately entering U.S. commerce for customs purposes. They allow businesses to defer duties, taxes, and fees until goods officially enter the market, or avoid them altogether if those goods are ultimately exported.

FTZs are often used by manufacturers to store inventory or assemble kits, but given the current level of trade uncertainty, they have also become a way to address the unpredictability of tariffs.

Melissa Irmen is the Director of Advocacy and Strategic Relations for the National Association of Foreign-trade Zones (NAFTZ), and she joins this episode to share practical advice about what FTZs are, how they work, and why they are drawing renewed attention in today's tariff-heavy trade environment.

In this episode of the Art of Supply podcast, Melissa and Kelly Barner discuss:

• Which companies tend to benefit most from FTZ participation, including manufacturers, distributors, retailers, electronics companies, pharmaceutical firms, and industrial businesses
• How FTZs offer flexibility during periods of trade disruption, helping importers pause, store, stage, or re-strategize inventory while tariffs and policy conditions shift
• How the FTZ program has evolved, including a streamlined application process, ongoing regulatory modernization efforts, and current advocacy priorities related to Congress, Customs and Border Protection, and USMCA

This episode makes a compelling case for taking a first (or another) look at foreign-trade zones.

Links:

• Melissa Irmen on LinkedIn
• National Association of Foreign-trade Zones
• Kelly Barner on LinkedIn
• Art of Supply LinkedIn newsletter
• Art of Supply on AOP