Domino’s: Admitting the Pizza Was the Problem

A Delivery Giant Losing Ground

Domino’s has been serving customers since 1960, and by the late 2000s it was one of the largest pizza companies in the world, with 8,773 stores at the end of 2008. In early 2010, Time described it as the world’s No. 2 pizza chain behind Pizza Hut. A company spokesman told the magazine that delivery convenience had been the brand’s core strength for 50 years and that competition in the pizza business was intense.

In its home market, though, business was slipping. In 2008, U.S. same store sales — sales at existing stores compared with the year before — fell 4.9%. In his letter to shareholders, Chairman and CEO David Brandon called 2008 a difficult year. He said the U.S. business faced significant challenges and that traffic at dinnertime had been eroding for a few years. Domino’s had already tried several fixes. It said its pricing strategy needed improvement and introduced a “barbell” approach aimed at both value-seeking and premium customers, and it added new menu items such as Oven Baked Sandwiches. In 2009, U.S. same store sales rose just 0.5%.

Remaking the Pizza in Public

Domino’s leaders eventually focused on the product at the center of the menu. After nearly two years of research and development, the company launched what it called its Inspired New Pizza at the end of 2009. It was a complete change to the core pizza, starting with the crust; the advertising promised a new sauce, a new crust, and new cheese. In his final annual letter as CEO, Brandon wrote that Domino’s had admitted disappointing some consumers with its pizza quality in the past and had taken the issue seriously.

What made the launch unusual was how openly Domino’s talked about its old pizza. Instead of quietly swapping recipes, it made customers’ criticism part of the message. A video tied to the launch showed company executives responding to blunt complaints, including the comment that the pizza “tastes like cardboard.” The campaign ran under the slogan “Oh Yes We Did,” and the company created a website, pizzaturnaround.com, to explain the changes and collect feedback from customers. Domino’s also promised to make things right or refund customers’ money if they were not satisfied. A year later, the company’s annual report looked back on the campaign and confirmed that, yes, Domino’s had admitted on television that people saw its old pizza as cardboard.

The launch came during a change in leadership. Brandon, who had been CEO since 1999, stepped down as CEO in March 2010 and remained chairman. Patrick Doyle, who had been president of Domino’s USA, became president and CEO. Russell Weiner, the chief marketing officer who had joined Domino’s in 2008, led what the company now calls its Pizza Turnaround campaign.

Measuring the Results

The numbers moved quickly. In 2010, U.S. same store sales jumped 9.9%, and global retail sales — sales at all company-owned and franchised stores worldwide — rose to $6.27 billion from $5.63 billion in 2009. In his first annual letter as CEO, Doyle wrote that the new pizza attracted first-time customers while holding on to regulars, and that some people who had not eaten Domino’s in 15 years or more gave it another try. In 2011, U.S. same store sales rose another 3.5%, and Doyle credited the pizza’s reformulation with building consumer trust in the brand.

Technology helped turn that interest into orders. Nearly 25% of U.S. store sales came from online orders in 2010, and almost one-third did in 2011. Customers could use the online Pizza Tracker to follow their pizza’s progress, and in 2010 the company invited customers to submit photos of their food through a contest called Show Us Your Pizza.

From a Recipe Fix to a Long-Term Strategy

The turnaround became a foundation for the company’s strategy in the years that followed. Domino’s kept investing in digital ordering; in 2024, more than 85% of its U.S. retail sales came through digital channels. It added stores in markets where it already operated — an approach it calls “fortressing” — to shrink delivery areas and get closer to carryout customers, while noting in its filings that new stores can take sales from nearby existing ones. It also reached a global agreement with Uber that lets customers order Domino’s through Uber’s marketplace. At the end of 2024, about 99% of Domino’s stores were owned and run by independent franchisees. The company describes its current plan, called Hungry for MORE, as a strategy to generate more sales, more stores, and more profits.

In October 2025, Domino’s launched its first brand refresh in 13 years, with brighter colors and new packaging but the same pizza. Kate Trumbull, the company’s global chief marketing officer, explained the thinking: “Over the past decade, we became known as a technology company that happens to sell pizza.” She said the Hungry for MORE strategy was bringing the focus back to making and delivering delicious products.

Where Things Stand

In 2025, Domino’s global retail sales reached about $20.1 billion, U.S. same store sales grew 3.0%, and the company ended the year with 22,142 stores. CEO Russell Weiner said Domino’s had gained another point of U.S. market share. In the third quarter of 2026, which ended September 6, U.S. same store sales rose just 0.3%, while the store count reached 22,706. Leadership is changing again. Joe Jordan, who had been chief operating officer and president of Domino’s U.S., became CEO on October 1, 2026. Weiner, who has worked at Domino’s for 18 years, became executive chairman designate and is set to become executive chairman at the company’s annual shareholder meeting in April 2027, when Brandon plans to retire from the board.