CEO Don Meij to go undercover tonight at Dominos Pizza franchises

The premiere of Channel Ten’s Undercover Boss Australia will air tonight, with Dominos Pizza CEO Don Meij going undercover to present Australians with a rare behind the scenes look at the operation of the pizza franchises.

Don’s career in the pizza industry spans more than 20 years. He began his Dominos journey as a pizza delivery driver in the Brisbane suburb of Redcliffe while studying to be a teacher, before quickly rising through the ranks.

He says it was working as a delivery driver he realised a career in the pizza business was the one for him.

“I saw so much potential in the pizza business while I was delivering pizzas and I absolutely loved it. The thought of doing something I loved and making a living out of it was fantastic, that’s really when my Dominos journey started,” Don explains.

This passion for the hustle and bustle of store life at the pizza franchises, coupled with the opportunity to explore the inner workings of the Dominos business cemented Don’s decision to take part in Undercover Boss.

He admits that “it’s been more than 10 years since I’ve worked in-store and like any business a lot can change in that time. At the same time I wanted to meet the people in our stores who go the extra mile to make a difference and make Dominos what it is today.”

Overall, Don says the experience was enlightening, not only for himself but for the future of Dominos pizza franchises as a business moving forward.

“The opportunity gave me the chance to really see how our business is going operationally. It’s easy to make decisions around a boardroom table but until you’ve seen how these decisions are implemented within a store, it’s hard to actually know if what we are doing is working,” Don says.

The hardest part of the whole experience, Don reflects, was making sure his real identity was not discovered.

“As part of my disguise I had to grow a beard and I’ve never done that before! Secondly I had to act as though I knew nothing about Domino’s, which was even more difficult. There were times during filming when I really had to stop myself from talking about what I knew,” Don says.

The premiere of Under Boss Australia, featuring Don Meij’s experiences at the take away franchises, will be televised tonight on Channel Ten.