Domino's Has Teased A New Dish

By and large, fast food chains aren’t in the best state right now. Having been pummelled by six years of a global pandemic, lower footfall, rising costs of ingredients, and general customer reticence to spend too much money, restaurants everywhere – both the biggest and the smallest – are feeling the pinch. Not even heritage pizza chains are safe: Pizza Hut was sold last month, and Domino’s has been struggling over the last couple of months.

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But, according to its CEO, there’s hope on the horizon – in the form of a new dish. It’s just a shame he won’t tell us what it is yet.

Domino’s: Can It Slice Its Way Out Of A Slump?

A recent interview with Domino’s CEO Russell Weiner over on Restaurant Business Online provided some key insights on how Domino’s has been faring over the last few months. In short, it’s not been the best few months for the chain. While it’s not in crisis mode, Weiner acknowledged that it saw smaller ticket sizes during the last financial quarter, and that its new Slice Sauce, a high-profile launch in its premium series, didn’t quite land with its diners. “This did not resonate with customers the way it needed to,” Weiner said. “The messaging wasn’t compelling enough. The result was a drag on ticket, which impacted our results.”

Weiner stated that the premium series was meant to “lap the Parmesan Stuffed Crust from last year,” but it didn’t quite land in the way the chain had hoped. As a consequence, same-store sales fell under the restaurant’s expectations, and it was a bit of a damp squib.

But There’s Hope…

Yes, there is. In the Restaurant Business Online interview, Weiner also teased a new product landing in stores in Q3 that, he says, is “unlike anything we’ve ever offered before.” Weiner was coy on details, but he indicated that it would be something that customers need, but don’t yet get at the restaurant – and that it’ll be a pizza that’s unique to the chain. “It’s one of the best-tasting products we have ever tested,” he said.

Okay. Yum. So…what is it? What could Domino’s make that no other pizza chain has done yet? Honestly, it’s hard to guess; it feels like pizza’s been done in every which way over the last few decades. Mini pizzas? A double-layer pizza with crunch inside? Customizable crusts? We’ll have to wait and see. Domino’s, though, knows there’s no time like the present. What with Pizza Hut being sold and Papa John’s closing stores this year (despite angling for a Michelin star), it’s time for it to strike.