STRATEGIC PARTNERS
American pizza company Domino's opened its first store in Italy today. ePizza S.p.A, doing business as Domino's Pizza Italia, holds the new master franchise rights to operate Domino's in Italy.
October 5, 2015
Domino's today opened its first store in Italy, in the northern city of Milan. The American-founded brand is being launched by local Italian ownership and sources 100-percent local ingredients to create what is ultimately a local pizza menu, according to a company press release.
ePizza S.p.A, doing business as Domino's Pizza Italia, holds the new master franchise rights to operate Domino's in Italy. The franchise, led by Alessandro Lazzaroni, plans to open three stores in Milan before year's end. Lazzaroni recently served as commercial retail director of Galbuser, an Italian bakery company. He also served as business insights and marketing manager for McDonald's.
"Domino's is a global brand, with American roots, and we're proud to be able to introduce it to the Italian people — with a twist," Lazzaroni said. "We will be using a recipe created by us, using locally-sourced wheat. Everything else is purely Italian. We are purchasing all of our products from Italian producers. We've created our own recipe, starting for the original pizza recipe, with Italian products, like 100 percent tomato sauce and mozzarella, and products like Prosciutto di Parma, Gorgonzola, Grana Padano and Mozzarella di bufala Campana."
Italians are said to eat pizza an average of seven times per month, the release stated. In addition to the traditional Margherita (favored by 70 percent of Italian consumers, according to the release), Domino's will offer all other pizzas such as Napoli and Sicilian. Desserts on the menu include other local products, including Tortino Al Cioccolato and Tiramisu.
"The beauty of pizza is in its customization," said Richard Allison, president of Domino's International. "Pizza can be made to appeal to the tastes of the individual. It can also be customized to meet the tastes of an entire market, and that's we've done here. We have found great local ownership who wants to take our business model of great food delivered quickly and give it an Italian 'flavor.' We're proud to be the brand that the newly-formed franchise company wants to introduce to their fellow Italians. Italy can be a major milestone for the recognized world leader in pizza delivery, as no major American pizza brand has successfully entered the market. We're going where no major pizza brand has gone before."
Domino’s has more than 12,100 stores in over 80 international markets.
