Leadership Defined These values serve as a constant reminder of who we are, and  they guide every decision we make and everything we do. We  believe values-based leadership and a values-based organization  are more important than ever as predicates for success in today’s  business environment. These priorities have been established with the purpose of putting  Darden squarely on the path toward growth. Progress on these  priorities will increase operating consistency, reinforce leadership  effectiveness and stability, and ignite stronger growth.  Our foundation also includes a strategic framework that has been in  place for nearly six years now and has helped us build a solid track  record of success. This framework consists of four strategic impera- tives – leadership excellence at all levels, brand building excellence,  service and hospitality excellence and culinary and beverage excel- lence. There are also two strategic enablers we believe can help  us accelerate progress in each of the strategic imperatives. These  enablers are diversity excellence that embraces and builds upon  our differences, and process and technology excellence that maxi- mizes organizational effectiveness and drives both discipline and  nimbleness. These important elements – our strategic imperatives  and enablers – remain unchanged and rock solid.  A critical element of effective leadership is having a thoughtful  succession plan that provides for a smooth and effective transition  of leadership to talented, dynamic and seasoned executives. I am  pleased that the Board of Directors has appointed Smokey Bones  President Clarence Otis as my successor as Chief Executive Officer,  and Olive Garden President Drew Madsen as Darden President and  Chief Operating Officer effective December 2004. I will continue  to serve as Chairman until my retirement in December 2005. Our succession plan is the result of years of planning by our Board  of Directors, made possible by Darden’s deep bench strength. Both  Clarence and Drew have been with Darden for many years and  have a wide breadth of business acumen and restaurant industry  experience. They are talented executives with complementary  strengths, mutual respect, and a demonstrated ability to work as  an effective team. Their passion for our business will serve us well  in the years ahead. STRONG LEADERSHIP New to our strategic framework is the explicit statement of two  points that have been implicit in our approach to the business for  many years now, and that we believe separate us from much of our  competition. We are committed to: (1) being a multi-brand restau- rant company bound together by common operating practices and  a unifying culture, which serve to make us stronger than the sum  of our parts; and (2) listening to our guests and employees for the  insights we need to create powerful, broadly appealing brands and  develop highly successful people.  We are confident we will create enduring guest and employee  loyalty and deliver strong financial performance by combining  our strong foundation with consistent brilliance with the basics in  everything we pursue, especially our strategic imperatives. We are  proud to highlight one of those strategic imperatives in this year’s  annual report – leadership excellence at all levels of Darden – and  introduce you to some of the finest leaders in casual dining. I am convinced that Darden is well positioned for growth. We start  with more than 141,000 dedicated employees who are committed  to nourishing and delighting everyone we serve. And we add to that  an extraordinarily broad guest base that reflects our balanced mix  of two large, dominant companies that each generate over $2 billion  in annual sales, and two smaller, emerging growth companies that  we believe are each capable of ultimately achieving annual sales of  $500 million or more.  Our loyal employees and guests, along with our leadership and  financial resources, provide us with an excellent platform to grow  and to achieve our ultimate objective, which is to be the best in  casual dining, now and for generations.  WE ARE READY TO GROW FISCAL 2005 PRIORITIES  To achieve our financial objectives and continue building our  momentum toward becoming the best in casual dining, we will focus  our attention and resources on four critical priorities in fiscal 2005: • Increasing leadership effectiveness • Driving more growth across all of our brands • Fully utilizing our resources • Improving our brand-building efforts Joe R. Lee ChairmanandChiefExecutiveOfficer We are confident we will create enduring guest and employee loyalty and deliver strong financial performance by combining our strong foundation with consistent brilliance with the basics in everything we pursue, especially our strategic imperatives.  8  Darden Restaurants