Jubilant FoodWorks is stepping up investments on Domino’s rebranding to drive higher pizza consumption in a bid to grow the category’s share in terms of ocassions. The company has kickstarted a 360-degree rebranding initiative which aims to grow the sailence of the brand especially among Gen Z and young millennials.
The initative includes a brand relaunch campaign with the tagline “It Happens Only with Pizza”, fresh packaging and revamped store infrastructure for a comprehensive brand rehaul. The brand is already in the process of “re-imaging” about 100 stores by FY24-end.
Sameer Khetarpal, MD & CEO of Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd, said, “Our key priority is to triple down on investments behind brand Domino’s. The Indian food services market is pegged at about $51 billion, but the share of the pizza segment is only about $1 billion. Our job as the leading player is to ensure that the category share gets expanded. Out of 1,000 meal occasions in a year, pizza is consumed only thrice in the country. A 360-degree communication, including stores and delivery boxes, brings the experience in an integrated manner, allowing Domino’s to gain share of occasions.”
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Responding to a query on the current demand trends, Khetarpal pointed out that ticket sizes have begun seeing improvement. “We should see slightly higher growth in the next one or two quarters when the pressures of inflation get corrected and employees get their salary increments in the April-May timeframe. Also, with the elections, money is also expected to flow into the economy,” he added.
“This Diwali was bigger than last Diwali and the World Cup final was bigger than Diwali. So consumers are coming out and spending when there are occasions. Our ticket sizes have begun to improve. While I see short-term pressures continuing, when consumers go out they spend in spades. Delivery is growing and is positive for us and brings in tailwinds for Domino’s,” he added.
Inflationary pressures
On managing inflationary pressures, Khetarpal said that the company has been focusing on internal efficiencies to get leverage to expand margins. “Inflation was more benign than what it was 18 months ago but we are not in a deflationary environment. We expect our basket of input costs including cheese, oil, vegetables, paper and labour to increase at the pace of 4-7 per cent per annum,” he added.
The overall QSR sector in the country has been witnessing challenging times amidst inflationary pressures. Some players have also pointed to growing competition from local players.
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“India is one of the outlier markets where pizza is a bigger category than other segments such as burgers or chicken. I believe Pizza is more centre of the plate than any other cuisine. We believe competition is good for our business as it has been democratising pizza as an ocassion and only helps us get into new markets while gaining share,” he added.
The company’s aim is to have 3,000 Domino’s outlets in the medium term. It currently operates 1,888 outlets under the brand in India.