Domino's 'Inspired New Pizza' Scores Big Win Against Papa John's & Pizza Hut in National Taste Test

Domino's 'Taste Test Trifecta' wins in three hand-tossed pizza types

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Feb 02, 2010, 01:00 ET

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Feb. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Domino's Pizza (NYSE: DPZ), the recognized world leader in pizza delivery, has continued the aggressive launch of its "inspired" new hand-tossed pizza. Not only have they proven that it's better than their old pizza, but have now bested the competition, too – winning against Papa John's and Pizza Hut in a national taste test of hand-tossed pepperoni pizza, sausage pizza and extra-cheese pizza.

The victory resulted from an independent, blind taste test of nearly 1,800 random pizza consumers from eight U.S. markets. In head-to-head comparisons, participants picked each of the Domino's pizzas as tasting better than both Papa John's and Pizza Hut by a wide margin.

"Consumer perception of our delivery and service has always been strong. Now we're proving that our taste and quality are great, too," said President of Domino's USA, Patrick Doyle. "Beating Papa John's and Pizza Hut in this taste test is a very significant step in that direction."

Reinvented from the crust up, the new hand-tossed pizza – which arrived in stores in late December – features new sauce, cheese and garlic-seasoned crust. The reformulation was one of the biggest moves in the company's 50-year history, and was inspired by its toughest consumer critics. Domino's transparent approach to talking about this bold change has garnered much attention from the media and public in general, with the press highlighting the company's "open and honest" treatment in its advertising.

"We listened to our consumers. They told us to change...so we did. Now, they've told us we're better than we used to be – and better than our competition. We think that's really cool," said Doyle.

Surrounded by this excitement, Domino's still has even more to look forward to as the company approaches the kickoff of its biggest night on the calendar this Sunday. "Our stores and team members always look forward to the big game, and get about as amped up as the players themselves," said Russell Weiner, Domino's Chief Marketing Officer. "With the momentum created by our new pizza and beating our two national competitors, this is sure to be our biggest game day yet – and we couldn't be more excited to deliver over 9 million slices of pizza this Sunday."

About Domino's Pizza®

Founded in 1960, Domino's Pizza is the recognized world leader in pizza delivery. Domino's is listed on the NYSE under the symbol "DPZ." Through its primarily locally-owned and operated franchised system, Domino's operates a network of 8,886 franchised and Company-owned stores in the United States and 60 international markets. The Domino's Pizza® brand, named a Megabrand by Advertising Age magazine, had global retail sales of over $5.5 billion in 2008, comprised of nearly $3.1 billion domestically and over $2.4 billion internationally. During the third quarter of 2009, the Domino's Pizza® brand had global retail sales of over $1.2 billion, comprised of over $672 million domestically and over $570 million internationally. Domino's Pizza was named "Chain of the Year" by Pizza Today magazine, the leading publication of the pizza industry. In 2009, Domino's ranked number one in customer satisfaction in a survey of consumers of the U.S. largest limited service restaurants, according to the annual American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). Domino's has expanded its menu significantly since 2008 to include Oven Baked Sandwiches and BreadBowl Pasta, and kicked off 2010 with the debut of their 'Inspired New Pizza' – a permanent change to their core hand-tossed product, reinvented from the crust up with new sauce, cheese and garlic seasoned crust.

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SOURCE Domino's Pizza