Domino’s fast food fail as KFC powers on
Domino’s is struggling. Picture: NewsWire / Sarah Marshall
OPINION
Any former Domino’s superfan can tell you why the pizza giant has fallen upon hard times in Australia – and it shouldn’t take the average man on the street to tell their C-suite, who have earnt as much as $37m a year, why.
In our household, Friday night used to forever be pizza party night, a couple of Domino’s pizzas, a few beers or Cokes and a game of footy. The good old days.
Of course it’s not the healthiest night but it was a good way to end the working week with a bit of a blow out, and a laugh or two, and a Roosters win.
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Once upon a time, Domino’s was great.
But those days are long gone.
Five bucks was a fair price to pay not that long ago for a pizza, that sometimes tasted like the cardboard box it came in, and was probably not as good for you.
That same pizza now costs as much as three times that.
I can tell you for sure, my wage hasn’t gone up more than threefold in the last five years.
And over those same five years, the Domino’s Australia share price has cratered, falling 89 per cent from $161.98 in September 2021, to $18.62 today.
Ouch.
And now, Domino’s Pizza US executives have directly called out the chain’s struggling Australian offshoot, blaming its disastrous sales strategy for pulling down the fast-food giant’s global performance.
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Domino’s pizza prices have gone through the roof.
29 stores across Australian and New Zealand are being closed, with the blame laid primarily at higher prices, amid a $300m hit to investors.
Did someone say FAFO?
You see Aussies aren’t stupid. Even when they are looking for a blow out on a Friday night.
A cheap pizza is a good pizza. Of course you can have you’re artisan Italian number with the dough that’s been left for days, and slow cooked while you watch on, they are great too. There is a place for that too.
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Yeah, nah. Picture: Supplied
But while you’re watching James Tedesco swallow a Matt Burton bomb like it’s a tic tac, a slice of pepperoni pizza from Domino’s washed down with a gulp of VB really hits the spot – at the right price, of course. Otherwise I’ll have a toasted sandwich instead.
Domino’s forgot they were in the business of selling cheap pizzas, instead they wanted to claim they were “a tech company that happens to sell pizza”. Someone should have told them, they aren’t no Luigi Zuckerberg.
Roosters superstar James Tedesco enjoying a bit of Fried Night Footy.
I want a cheap pizza, a cold beer and a good game of footy. It’s not too much to ask is it?
Apparently it was and customers have walked away in droves.
When we drive past the local Domino’s, my boys don’t even bother anymore trying to cause a six-car pile up screeching for the grub. There might be a dismissive: “we haven’t had Domino’s in a while”. But that’s all as we continue onto the local chicken joint.
Every item has a price, customers are no longer willing to pay for it. And for many Domino’s jumped that shark a long time ago.
Now that’s what I’m talking about.
The kids over at KFC get it, they have gone in hard on the Fried Night Footy. They have dug deep on the sentimental attachment and offered a better value alternative.
KFC’s parent franchise Collins Foods posted a huge $1.6bn in sales for the year ended May 2026. Same stores sales grew 2.7 per cent, with digital orders making up 43 per cent of transactions.
Over roughly the same period Domino’s sales fell around five per cent.
You can bet KFC aren’t gonna come out and say they are a tech co that sells chooks, or raise prices threefold.
Even Adam Doueihi is happy.
They just want you to enjoy the footy with a blow out you can afford.
