Domino’s Pizza enters burger wars with new Burger Joint pizza range

Domino’s is entering the hotly contested burger war with a new menu offering, which it says is better than its rivals. See the photos and video.

Exclusive: They are two of our favourite go-to takeaway meals – burgers and pizza.

And now a major pizza chain is hoping to start a food war by taking a slice out of the burger market.

Research company Roy Morgan estimates more than 17 million Aussies eat take away food, with burgers our favourite indulgence. Their research found a third of consumers opted for pizzas, with the Dominos chain the third most popular choice among Gen Z – those born between 1997 and 2010.

And so enter the Burger Joint range and their new “pizza burger” – the dish Domino’s Group CEO and Managing Director Don Meij hopes will not only add to its already sizeable chunk of the fast food market – but get burger stores to lift their act.

“Every single burger business has been designed for carry out (from a restaurant) and for the drive-thru,” Mr Meij said.

“Packaging is flimsy and soft … they’re not designed for delivery. So they bleed back into them, they get soggy, you get limp ingredients.

“We’re not bringing in a pre-made bun either, we are using fresh dough made in-store and that’s the secret of pizza being crisp on delivery.”

Its “real burger” on a pizza comes with chunks of burger beef, American cheddar, butter pickles and special burger sauce.

Dominoes' new Burger Joint experience coming to Australian customers. This is the Hamburger pizza. Picture: Supplied

While Domino’s will shortly release its latest results, the ASX-listed company sells more than $3.7 billion worth of pizzas annually across 10 countries. Last year, it delivered a global profit of more than $180 million.

Jack Cowin, of Hungry Jack’s fame, is the biggest shareholder who has a stake of more than 26 per cent.

It has a market capitalisation of $6.3 billion, which is more than the Bank of Queensland which has a market cap of $4.9 billion, but slightly less than Qantas which sits at $8.2 billion.

It recorded an annual profit of $116 million last year, up 14.1 per cent on the previous year.

Dominoes' new Burger Joint experience features their take on a Cheeseburger. Picture: Supplied

This is a third of Domino’s total earnings. In Australia and New Zealand, their pizza sales are worth nearly $780 million annually, with evolving pizza toppings a way of delivering organic growth.

A recent IBISWorld report into fast food and takeaway stores also found pizza remains a popular option for takeaway food, with convenient smartphone apps helping customers access it.

Dominos Pizza CEO Don Meij at the company headquarters in Brisbane. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

While Dominos has answered this calling with their faster pizza making and GPS tracking apps for delivery, the report found many consumers “have become increasingly discerning regarding their food choices, with many turning away from fast food in favour of more gourmet options”.

It found a greater “demand for gourmet burgers has outpaced demand for their traditional fast-food equivalents”.

Mr Meij said the Burger Joint range being launched on Monday does not feature their “typical pizza toppings” and offers more value.

“We wouldn’t be making the claim we’re into the burger business unless this genuinely was a credible premium delivered burger.,” he said.

Mr Meij said he hopes the new range becomes a permanent menu item, hinting they have other plans.

“You’ll be getting burgers from Domino’s for a long period of time,” he said.

“There’s other parts of the burger business that we’re going to accompany to this.

“So when you are looking for a delivered burger, we think this sets the benchmark for it.”

Originally published as Domino’s Pizza enters burger wars with new Burger Joint pizza range