By Tracy Morin
Kevin King was named CEO of Donatos Pizza—based in Columbus, Ohio, with a total of 473 traditional and nontraditional locations—effective Oct. 1 He replaced Tom Krouse, who led the brand as CEO from 2010-2024 prior to retiring.
King, who served as president of Donatos prior to his promotion, recently sat down with PMQ to discuss the ongoing “pizza wars”—and how his brand plans to win in an increasingly competitive landscape.
Read on to find out which strategies you can apply in your own operation.
Podcast: Outgoing CEO of Donatos Pizza Learned a Thing or Two Along the Way
PMQ: Tell us your take on the recent “pizza wars,” which have ushered in intensifying price competition in the pizza market. What is your current outlook on the pizza industry and restaurants as a whole?
Kevin King: There is no doubt the pizza wars are back. This year, we have had to get more aggressive on pricing and adjusting our business model. I believe there are two key factors driving this shift. First, the consumer is definitely feeling pressure and becoming choosier with how they spend their money. To compete and attract or keep our guests, we have become more aggressive in offering deals, as have all of our competitors.
I don’t see an end in the short term and feel it is important to invest in keeping guests, even at the expense of some margin. What we aren’t doing is cheapening our product or adjusting our menu. We have always been a premium brand and will continue that. We still feel that there are plenty of guests willing to pay a little more for great quality pizza. The pizza occasion is still one of the best values out there to feed a family. We are confident that quality food and a great experience will be our formula for long-term success.
The second factor is that everyone delivers now because of DoorDash and Uber. Pre-pandemic, they were still a niche player and growing, but not a force in the industry. Today, that is different, and we have to grow and adjust. When a disruption happens, you are either part of the disruption or disrupted, and we want to make sure we embrace it and capture our share. We have embraced third-party delivery and figured out how to make it work for us. We invested in systems and marketing to capture a greater share of this market. More to come on this as the consumer realizes the true cost of the delivery aggregators, but for now they are a huge force in the business.
In the end, pizza is a product that travels well, it’s fun, and it’s a food that is most often shared with family and friends. These will continue to be strengths of pizza going forward.
PMQ: How is Donatos staying unique in the industry and showcasing its differentiators to prospective franchisees?
King: Pizza is a huge market in the U.S. and growing worldwide. Given its size, there have to be differences in order to continue to grow both share and units. At Donatos, we have always been different. We believe in giving our guests more—where else do you get more toppings, more quality, more flavor and more consistency? We think this is clearly how we will continue to grow Donatos.
We can also highlight to prospective franchise partners our differences. Our operating system is the best in the world. We have a platform that enables our teams to make the same great pizza every time at really high volumes. The pizza category is a peak-oriented business, and you have to be able to give the guest what they want when they want it—this means on a Friday night. Our system enables us to do that like no one else. We’re confident we can show our partners this difference, and that will continue to attract more and better franchise partners in the future.
PMQ: How can pizzerias provide value to customers and drive brand loyalty in this competitive landscape?
King: We do that through quality and consistency. To us, they go hand in hand. You really can’t be high quality unless you consistently deliver on high quality. Our operating systems make that possible. We know that if we can make the pizzas consistently and give you more, we can continue to grow our customer base. That is what loyalty is all about.
PMQ: What are Donatos’ strategies for innovation and growth right now?
King: Innovation is the key for us going forward. We think of innovation all of the time. I believe that innovation has three main pillars for us:
- Innovate our operating platform
- Innovate our menu
- Innovate our technology
We will continue to drive all three of these going forward. Right now, we’re implementing a machine that applies and spreads sauce over the pizza at the perfect weight in about seven seconds. This type of innovation improves our quality while reducing a repetitive task that people don’t love to do. And this type of innovation is core to the Donatos story and our founder, Jim Grote, all the way back to the first store.
This is just the tip of the iceberg for us as we grow. We’re also looking at our menu, our flavors and our ingredients—trying to be out in front of the guest in what they want. Food science is growing fast, and the guest is becoming more particular about ingredient labels, where stuff comes from, and how it’s brought to market. We don’t see this changing going forward.
We all know about technology innovation, and we will continue to be there also. We have a terrific digital business that is still growing every day. We were early in AI ordering and will continue to improve our processes through AI and other digital innovation.
PMQ: What are Donatos’ next goals ahead, and what do you see happening next in the pizza wars?
King: I don’t see a letup in the pizza wars. I do know there will be winners and losers, as the guest is more discerning with where and how they spend money. I also believe if we continue to focus on great-tasting pizza, subs and wings, ensuring that we consistently give the customer what they want and give them a great experience, Donatos will be a winner.
We also have to remember who we are and trust in our mission and values. We talk about this every day with our teams. The restaurant business takes constant effort, commitment and focus, but it isn’t hard. If we continue to do this, I’m confident we can grow and prosper in both the restaurant category and the pizza segment specifically.
