Dominos serves up new menu

Domino’s Pizza has released its largest range of new products including made-to-order fresh pastas, pizzas and dessert, served up in brand new slick packaging, all supported by an extensive national media campaign emphasizing the fresh ingredients. CEO of Domino’s fast food franchise, Don Meij, said the menu launch was a direct response to customer demands, with greater choice on offer at value for money prices. “People are migrating into our space and we’re trying to step up, more people are moving into takeaways from cafes and restaurants and we want to impress and get them to stay with us.”

Serving up bread and pasta in one go, three pastas hand tossed in puff pastry bowls; three upgraded pizza options feature improved quality ingredients and a choice of crusts; a liquid chocolate delight, the chocolate lava cake, cooked on site in muffin trays.

Better value is achieved from cooking the meals in store and using ingredients across the pasta and pizza dishes while current savings from reduced commodity costs are being used to upscale the ingredients, said Meij.

"Our new menu uses only the freshest premium quality ingredients including vine-ripened grape tomatoes, fresh baby spinach leaves, chicken breast meat and al dente penne pasta. Customers are after choice, quality and service,” he said. Providing variety with pasta dishes makes sense, said Meij. “Pizza is a shared food yet at the table some customers might want just one slice. Mums over 25 are also less likely to eat pizza and they are more discerning now than 10 years ago.”

Meij revealed 60,000 lava cakes, launched in time for Valentine’s Day, were sold in the first week of release. The take away pizza franchise will also be selling new drinks including a budget price Coca-Cola in a bullet can. Expect to see further menu developments over the next six months.

For franchisees and staff the additions to the menu are easy to incorporate, Meij said. New technology has been introduced for the pasta cooking and the assembling of ingredients in a very visual way will continue with the latest menu offerings. Adding pasta to the menu will boost lunchtime trade too.

A series of 36 ads starting with five second teasers, followed by branding emphasizing the fresh ingredients, then product-based ads is launching tonight nationally and will run for 13 weeks. “We’re celebrating what we’re really proud of. We are dedicated to product innovation and freshness and have invested more than six months in product development, customer research and product sampling. The pizza industry has been a bit boring; our competitors are now doing different things and we think we’ve got what the customer wants," said Meij.