Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Ltd. (DMP) plans to take the concept of fast food to a whole new level with a three-minute pizza recipe. The pizza chain, whose stock has risen over 800% over the last five years, is trialing its new high-speed cooking technology as well as delivery robots to cut delivery and baking times in half.
Don Meij, CEO of Domino’s, is calling the experiment Project 3-10. Pizzas are ready to take away in three minutes, or delivered to your door in 10 minutes.
Meij’s project is an attempt to preserve the pizza chain’s tremendous growth, which drove the company to become Australia’s top-performing consumer stock and boosted profit tenfold. Now, the CEO is asking customers to embrace new technology, like a 397-pound robot that hand-delivers cold soda and pizza.
Over the last decade, Domino’s investors have received a return of over 2,000% as company profits soared. But the stocks is showing signs of cooling, with a projected gain of just 6% this year. Over the last seven years, average gains were around 60%.
The Brisbane-based company is the largest franchisee for the takeaway brand, owned by Domino’s Pizza Inc. (DPZ), outside of the United States. Domino’s Pizza Enterprises has outlets in New Zealand, Australia, Japan and a few European nations. Its market value is USD$3.8 billion.
In order for Domino’s to bring its three-minute pizza dream to life, the company will need new ovens that project heat in several directions, Meij says. So far, the technology has reduced cooking time to just four minutes. The three-minute goal remains elusive, but Meij predicts that within three years, the company will achieve its goal of 10-minute deliveries.
Domino’s is also trialing robotic pizza deliveries in Brisbane, and the company expects the service to be available in Australia by 2018. Robotic deliveries will be safer and more cost effective than human couriers.
