[MotherBear]

Kiwis a saucy bunch, says Domino's boss
04 October 2006
By DAVID HARGREAVES

Kiwis are a sweet-toothed bunch ? and that extends to their taste for pizzas.

This is according to a man who knows a bit about making and selling them ? Don Meij, managing director of Domino's Pizza Australia and New Zealand. "We use a lot more sauces on our pizzas in New Zealand," he says. In other countries, tomato dominates as a base, but Kiwis like more unusual types of pizza such as apricot chicken ?:-/. Domino's best selling pizza in New Zealand is one with "barbecue swirl" sauce on it ? the aptly named "Barbecue Meatosaurus".

In just 3? years Domino's has gone from scratch to running 58 outlets in New Zealand. It is now having a real impact on long-time market leader Pizza Hut, owned by listed Restaurant Brands. Same-store sales at the 105-outlet Pizza Hut chain slumped 14.1 per cent in the half year to September 11.

Mr Meij, 37, a rapid-speaking dynamo and pizza enthusiast who started in the business part-time while at university and never left, is in New Zealand this week to meet Domino's franchisees. All but two of the New Zealand outlets are owner-operated.

He shrugs as he says that Pizza Hut is getting "beaten up" in the competition at the moment. "But we always take them seriously. We expect them to be competitive."

DPANZ is the master franchisor for the American-originated Domino's brand in Australia, New Zealand, France, Belgium and the Netherlands and it has 603 stores. The company sells 7000 tonnes of cheese ? mostly bought from Fonterra ? every year.

More stores are planned for New Zealand, with a target of 85 in two to three years. The rapid expansion has not hit profitability. The company's earnings rose 104 per cent to A$13 million (NZ$14.8 million) in the year to July 2. Operating earnings in New Zealand were double expected for the period.