By Rick Hynum
Domino’s outgoing CEO Russell Weiner last month announced a game-changing new menu innovation for this year’s third quarter but kept mum about the specifics. As of today, it’s official: The Domino, a Detroit-style pizza made for one, will roll out on August 31. And it could be the chain’s latest stroke of genius.
“The Domino fills a gap in our portfolio,” said Joe Jordan, the brand’s incoming CEO and current COO and president of Domino’s U.S. “When everyone wants something different, traditional pizza falls short. The Domino lets every person build the exact pizza they want. It’s fitting that the next generation in pizza is shaped like the logo of the No. 1 pizza company in the world. The Domino is so mouthwatering that we gave it our name!”
It’s an item that’s likely to stir up “try-me” curiosity. Detroit-style pizza has caught fire nationwide, with numerous concepts popping up and growing fast over the past five years. But the style isn’t easy to find in many smaller markets in middle America.
Add to that the individual-size advantage—which makes it a much more credible lunchtime product—and the element of customization—no negotiation with friends or family members required—and you’ve got a menu item at a fast-food price point that could have wide appeal.
According to a press release, the Domino “is shaped just like the brand’s iconic logo and cut into two generous slices.” Baked in a rectangular pan, it boasts “premium, buttery-flavored pan dough encrusted with real Parmesan cheese.” It’s topped with two layers of cheese, customers’ choice of sauce and up to three toppings, then finished with a drizzle of garlic seasoning.
The chain says “independent testing” found that “customers who tried the Domino rated it as one of the most delicious products Domino’s has ever introduced.”
Domino’s certainly isn’t the first national pizza chain to plate a Detroit-style pie. To much hullabaloo, Pizza Hut offered one for a limited time in early 2021, albeit in a larger size, and this past January Little Caesars introduced the Detroit-Style Slices-N-Stix meal for $4.99, although those slices come topped only with pepperoni.
Domino’s, on the other hand, will let each customer choose the toppings and the sauce. Moreover, this personal-size offering turns pizza into a convenient solo-dining meal and lets Domino’s compete for occasions that it might otherwise lose to fast-food chains like McDonald’s or Arby’s—while still preserving the core pizza occasion and producing more incremental sales.
Additionally, the Wall Street Journal points to market research from Circana showing that 43% of U.S. foodservice meals are eaten alone. Now Domino’s has a product that’s literally custom-made for those customers.
The price looks right, too. Domino’s says the single-serve pizza will be offered through its Mix and Match Deal where customers choose any two or more menu items and pay $6.99 for each.
Weiner dropped hints about the Domino in an earnings call with investors back in July, but he was careful not to provide details. He promised that the new item “will address an unmet consumer need…with a pizza that is unique to Domino’s.”
“One of the things that we did here was, we looked at some of the challenges within not only Domino’s but within pizza,” Weiner said. “We looked at what consumers…buy when they don’t buy pizza. That’s what this product does. It’s going to hit an occasion that I don’t think we, as a pizza category, hit that well today.”
In other words, Domino’s hasn’t ventured beyond its core product—fast, inexpensive DELCO pizza—but it has hit upon a personal-sized and personalized format that won’t cannibalize those core products’ sales. All with a style that millions of customers have heard about but have probably never gotten to try.
Now the only question that remains is: Can Domino’s nail the Detroit style? We’ll find out on August 31.
Rick Hynum is PMQ’s editor in chief.
