Pizza Market Saturation? Domino's Pizza Leader Departs After Shift Towards Fried Chicken.

A head of Domino's Pizza Group who proposed the United Kingdom might have reached maximum pizza demand while diversifying the company into poultry items has been replaced after conflicts with its board.

Leadership Transition

Andrew Rennie is exiting after only 24 months in leadership, and will be succeeded on an interim basis by the organization's operations head, Nicola Frampton, while Domino's looks for a permanent CEO.

The outgoing executive, who served at Domino's for more than two decades, had attempted to shift the UK's leading pizza takeaway chain towards poultry-based products, commenting earlier this month there was not “huge potential” left in the British pizza industry. He observed chicken was the quickest rising food category in the globe.

Board Friction

Reports indicate that there was disagreement between the CEO and the board over his focus and management style, although the company's announcement said he was stepping down “as a joint decision”.

New Brand Launch

In the autumn, Domino's unveiled its Chick 'N' Dip offering – which Rennie referred to as a “significant new phase” for the organization – and is trialling it in 210 outlets in the north-west of England and Northern Ireland.

While the company is still going to roll it out across its nearly 1,400 branches next year as scheduled, it views fried chicken as a supplement for its primary pizza operations.

Board Comment

Bull, the Domino's chair, said: “We are confident that there are a number of opportunities to enhance value and performance improvement in Domino's core business. We are concentrating on identifying the suitable leader to direct the careful implementation of that growth strategy.”

Industry Challenges

In the latest update, Domino's, which has millions of users in the UK and Ireland, said transactions fell by 1.5% in the latest quarter. In the summer, it cautioned that the takeaway market had “intensified” as it blamed weaker consumer confidence in the run-up to the government announcement and increasing labor expenses for weaker-than-expected sales and a 15% drop in interim earnings.

Rival chains are also facing challenges. Another major chain disclosed the closure of 68 restaurants a month ago, after the firm behind its British operations fell into administration.

Wellness Efforts

Adapting to consumer trends towards healthier eating, the company has rolled out lower-calorie products, such as its thin-crust line of bakes below 400 kcal as well as vegan and allergy-friendly pizzas. A family-sized pepperoni has 2,311 calories. A large cheese and tomato pizza has 2,171 kcal, while a small has 909 calories.

Acting Management

The interim chief has been with the company since the recent past, and was formerly with the gambling company William Hill. It is understood that she is not seeking to take on the CEO position on a full-time basis.

She said: “Our team has a multiple active growth and performance initiatives that we will be focused on executing at a rapid rate.”

She said these involved additional efforts on the company's procurement system and menu innovation, and its rewards program.

Domino's is also lacking a permanent finance director until March 16, when a new appointee comes aboard from the drinks company a well-known firm. For now, Snow acts as temporary CFO.