Domino’s Pizza is finally releasing its own version of stuffed crust on Monday, aiming to win over the customers who are willing to spend more on the pricey pizza customization.
Thirty years ago, Yum Brands’ Pizza Hut debuted the cheesy stuffed crust, marketing the launch with a television commercial starring Donald Trump. As years passed, rivals Papa John’s and Little Caesars eventually followed with their own takes. Trump went from hawking pizza to sitting in the Oval Office.
Generations of consumers have grown up with stuffed crust, including the increasingly important Gen Z diners, who are entering the workforce and buying their own pizzas now. The addition is critical for Domino’s, the top U.S. pizza chain, to compete with rivals Pizza Hut and Papa John’s, which have ceded market share to Domino’s in recent quarters but still steal the pizza chain’s customers.
“Nearly 13 million Domino’s customers each year are buying stuffed crust from our competitors, and these are our customers who have to leave our brand because we’re the only national pizza brand that doesn’t offer it,” Domino’s Chief Marketing Officer Kate Trumbull told CNBC.
Domino’s has taken so long to release stuffed crust that a survey of its customers found that 73% already believed that the chain offered it on the menu, according to Trumbull.
That all changes on Monday, when Domino’s launches its Parmesan Stuffed Crust. The menu item is included in the pizza chain’s $9.99 carryout deal.
When Pizza Hut originally launched stuffed crust, Domino’s viewed the menu item as gimmicky, according to Trumbull. Plus, the company heard that stuffed crust caused bottlenecks and slowed down service, leading to unhappy customers and workers.
But Domino’s perspective changed after more national competitors followed Pizza Hut’s lead. The chain committed to launching its own version in 2022, when its sales were faltering in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic pizza boom.
“It has been one of the longest development efforts in the company’s history,” Trumbull said.
The process began with extensive market research. Findings included that stuffed crust customers tend to buy pizza more frequently and often spend more per transaction.
Eight potential iterations followed before Domino’s landed on the right recipe for its Parmesan Stuffed Crust, made with mozzarella and topped with garlic seasoning and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.
At the same time, Domino’s was improving its restaurants’ overall operations, retraining its employees across the system on making its crust and rolling out a custom dough spinner to restaurants. If the pizza chain hadn’t made its kitchens more efficient, it wouldn’t have been able to launch stuffed crust, according to Trumbull.
Ahead of the launch of Parmesan Stuffed Crust, the pizza chain spent 12 weeks training franchisees and 7,000 stores on how to make it properly.
“We’re not going to leave anything to chance after taking three years,” Trumbull said.