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Editor’s note: This article is part 2 of the Pizza Power Report 2025. You can scroll down to the bottom to navigate to other sections of the report.
By Rick Hynum
Despite a fairly robust economy overall, many American diners still had the inflation jitters and couldn’t be persuaded to loosen their wallets this year. Domino’s, the world’s top pizza chain, saw that coming and had a plan in place called Hungry for MORE. And to hear CEO Russell Weiner talk about it in a third-quarter earnings call on October 10, that plan worked like a charm.
Weiner said the company launched Hungry for MORE in December 2023, fully expecting that “consumer spending would be pressured in 2024 and that the QSRs that offered the strongest value would win. That proved to be right, and…leaning into our strategic pillar of renowned value has been key to our success in 2024, especially in the U.S.”
Never mind the “burger wars,” Weiner added. “I think we’re in the pizza wars right now, and, again, clearly we are winning that.” To keep up, he added, other pizza companies will have to “continue to lean into value.”
Just a week into October, Domino’s resurrected its Emergency Pizza plan; with a qualifying digital-only order of $7.99, Domino’s Rewards members received an offer for a free medium two-topping pizza to redeem whenever they needed it most, along with a glamorous new twist: a free pizza-themed manicure kit from June & Olive. And that was just the latest value offer from the chain. It started in late January with a weeklong digital-only special featuring large two-topping pizzas for $6.99 each, a deal that resurfaced as a carryout offer in mid-August. In March, June and October, Domino’s marked down all menu-priced pizzas by 50% for a week.
We could go on and on—there were other deals from Domino’s, too—but suffice it to say that the chain has seen four straight quarters of same-store sales growth since Hungry for MORE’s debut.
Papa Johns, meanwhile, saw its North American same-store sales slide by 4% in the second quarter of 2024 (Q3 sales had not been announced as of presstime), suggesting the brand’s continued focus on what it calls “premium ingredients” was the wrong call this year. As CFO Ravi Thanawala noted in an August earnings call, consumers “have become more deliberate in managing their overall ticket and are showing a preference for brands that are offering compelling value. While we know we offer an attractive value for our customers, our marketing and innovation…have primarily focused on premium product offerings at premium price points. As a result, our price value perception is not as strong as it should be in this unique environment.”
Papa Johns did deepen its Back to Better 2.0 initiative this summer, bringing back the Cheesy Burger Pizza for $9.99 as part of its Cheesy Burger Trio lineup, which included the Cheesy Burger Papadia and Papa Bites priced at $6.99 and $4.99 respectively, while its extra-large New York-style pie returned at a more competitive price point of $10.99. There will be more deals to come from Papa Johns, Thanawala said in August. “We know that driving trial of our product is critical to winning consumers’ wallets in the future. At our company-owned restaurants, we are also testing various value offers in certain markets to analyze the repeat rates, identify potential basket starters and larger basket motivators.”
Other pizza chains fought the value wars with less fervor. In August, Donatos Pizza debuted its Bakery Crust Pizza—thicker and cut into squares—aimed at budget-conscious families. That same month, Cicis Pizza rolled out a three-month all-you-can-eat buffet deal on Mondays and Tuesdays for $4.99. Take-and-bake leader Papa Murphy’s joined the fray in September, introducing the Everyday Value menu with three large pizzas starting at $7.99 apiece. And MOD Pizza, after flirting briefly with bankruptcy and getting acquired by Elite Restaurant Group, came out with its Unlimited Toppings, One Price menu structure.
Of course, the QSR value wars extended to all fronts, not just pizza—from Taco Bell’s new Craving Values menu to McDonald’s $5 value meal and Burger King’s $5 Duo deal. But, aside from Domino’s, there were few clear winners overall. According to an October report from Black Box Intelligence, quick-service restaurants, despite all of these deals, saw a decline of 2.2% in same-store traffic in June, 3.4% in July, 4% in August and 2.5% in September, not to mention a drop in same-stores sales in June and July, although those sales went up by 0.8% in September.
At Domino’s, however, Weiner sounded the bugle for victory—for now, anyway. His brand reported same-store sales growth of 3% in the third quarter of 2024 and a 5.1% increase in global retail sales. “With the slate of initiatives we’ve got out in front of us, I continue to believe that we will deliver U.S. same-store sales growth of 3% or more annually,” Weiner told investors. “And that’s why I expect Domino’s to continue to drive additional market share gain.”
Editor’s note: This section of the Pizza Power Report 2025 includes material about Papa Johns that did not appear in the January-February 2025 print edition due to limited space.
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