Domino’s changes menu deals in anticipation of wage inflation and increased food costsDomino’s changes menu deals in anticipation of wage inflation and increased food costs

Joanna Fantozzi

Commodity costs and inflation have hit the restaurant industry hard, causing brands like Domino’s Pizza to make tough decisions to raise prices or change menu items. Domino’s will be changing its iconic $7.99 carryout deal from 10 wings to eight wings in anticipation of continued wage inflation and increased food costs, CEO Ritch Allison said Tuesday at the virtual ICR conference.

As the restaurant industry continues to write a new chapter at this point of the pandemic, increased menu prices have been a recurring theme from speakers at January’s ICR conference. The Domino’s deal will also be moving to an online-only offer to increase spend and control customer data, Allison said. Additionally, the company will save labor funds because staff won’t have to answer the phones.

This year, Domino’s has led with innovation, despite some growth slowdown from 2020 with new menu items — most recently the pizza chain’s new dips and twists in multiple flavors — and technology innovation. Looking forward, Allison believes Domino’s has a lot of potential for growth.

“As we continue to invest in our business will continue to invest in technology that's helped us to drive growth, we are going to continue to invest in our supply chain infrastructure,” he said on Tuesday.

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At this point, almost 50% of all Domino’s orders are digital, with two-thirds delivery sales nad one-third takeout sales.

The company expects net unit growth of 6-8% and retail sales growth of 6-10% over the next two to three years, with the potential for 8,000 U.S. stores (the pizza chain’s current stateside store count sits at 6,471) and 10,000 stores internationally, with 5,000 in the strong China market alone. The company has adjusted its long-term global retail sales growth outlook from 7% to 11%.

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