Pizza franchise, Domino’s, is set to introduce a new mozzarella cheese which has 14 per cent less fat – a move which is part of the company’s focus on providing tasty, healthy products, said CEO Don Meij.

The new cheese will be available across the menu as of 1 January, 2011, at each of the franchise’s 438 Australian stores.

“Our new mozzarella cheese is 14 per cent lower in fat than our current cheese. Our customers have said they want healthier options and we believe this is the right step forward for us to be able to deliver on that,” said Meij.

“However, we want to assure our customers that the new lower fat cheese is still full of flavour. We did not want to cut any corners on taste just to get a healthier product. The fact that we have been able to find a great tasting cheese that is also much lower in fat than our current mozzarella is fantastic.”

The new cheese has been sourced from the San Joaquin Valley, south of the Napa Valley in California.

According to Meij, cheese is one of the highest cost ingredients on a pizza and Domino’s had to pay special attention to ensuring pizzas kept their low prices, while still improving their overall quality and nutritional value.

“This is a huge step for us – we are able to offer customers overall healthier pizzas which taste great without hitting their hip pocket,” he said.