What Domino's CEO Credits For The Brand's Continued Success
In a world that is complicated and full of uncertainty, there is one thing Americans can always count on to make them happy: Pizza. Why that is, no one really seems to know. But there are several theories. According to Britannica, the root of America's love affair with pizza dates to the 40-year period between 1880 and 1920, when a large percentage of immigrants — 20%, to be exact — hailed from Italy.
The Washington Post, on the other hand, credits America's love for pizza not to changing demographics and cultural taste patterns, but to its chemical makeup. There are four flavor elements that attract people to food: Fattiness, sweetness, richness, and complexity. As it turns out, pizza possesses every last one of them. Pizza also contains glutamate, a neurotransmitter that cues our brains to delight in what we're eating.
Whatever the reasons, pizza sales in the U.S. have remained rock steady. Neither the coronavirus pandemic nor food inflation has curbed Americans' enduring appetite for pizza pie. As Statista notes, pizza restaurant sales in the U.S. have remained between $43 and $47 billion annually for six straight years. Perhaps it's the pizza purveyors themselves that should be credited for consistently providing excellent performance. Domino's CEO, for instance, has his own theory for the brand's continued success.
Domino's successful formula and recent results
According to QSR, Domino's Pizza Chief Executive Russell Weiner believes the three pillars of the brand's success are the individual franchises — which topped 6,000 in the U.S. for the first time in 2021, per Statista – a smart management group, and the tools (both digitally and concretely, through its skillful workforce) to provide their customers with better value and a better overall experience relative to their competitors.
When discussing the brand's recent performance, Weiner revealed that carryout sales spiked nearly 20% over the same period in 2021, per QSR. Carryout remains one of the greatest growth potential areas for Domino's, he confirmed, while noting that despite the present economic climate, he's very bullish on Domino's current and future outlook. The brand will always be sensitive to current events, he observed, pointing out that in response to inflation, Domino's is now offering 20% discounts.
"I'm encouraged with our performance and the sequential improvements we made during the third quarter," Weiner said to Seeking Alpha. "As we begin the fourth quarter, I believe Domino's is poised to emerge from these volatile times stronger than ever. We delivered around one out of every three pizzas in the United States before the pandemic, and we deliver around one out of every three pizzas today. Combined with our strong carryout business where we have continued to accelerate our momentum, I have never been more confident in the future of Domino's Pizza."