Business Wars

It’s 1958 and on the East and West Coasts, all the cool cats are chowing down on pizza. Yet in the heartland, far away from the buzz of New York and LA, pizza is still rarely seen, let alone eaten. But that’s all about to change, thanks to a new pizzeria opened by two brothers in a hut in Kansas. And they’re not the only siblings with pie in the sky dreams. In Michigan, the Monaghan brothers are hoping to bring pizza to the nation’s front doors.

It’s the dawn of the 1970s and Pizza Hut is about to join America's business elite by floating on the stock exchange. But the Kansas pizza giant’s moment of triumph turns into defeat. But while Pizza Hut’s been charming investors on Wall Street, Domino’s is living on skid row. And founder Tom Monaghan’s running out of time to save the day.

It’s the ‘80s and Domino’s is gunning for Pizza Hut. Domino’s has kickstarted the speediest expansion program in fast-food history and it’s not planning on stopping until it’s planted its flag in every corner of the USA. But while Domino’s goes on the attack, Pizza Hut finds itself caught between a rock and a hard place.

It’s the late 1980s and Domino’s founder Tom Monaghan’s living the high life. After years of struggle, he’s a billionaire and he’s buying up plenty of status symbols to prove it. But as Pizza Hut tries to rally a counter-attack, a day of reckoning is fast approaching for the pizza delivery pioneer.

It’s the 1990s and Domino’s rapid rise on the back of its 30-minute delivery guarantee is about to smash straight into a legal roadblock. And while Domino’s extracts itself from the wreckage, Pizza Hut’s cooking up a new recipe for success. Its latest creation will horrify purists and help the chain fend off pizza’s newest player: Papa John’s.

It’s 2009 and Domino’s is about to risk everything in a daring bid to shake off its reputation as the home of sub-par pizza. But Pizza Hut’s having a hard time too. Its iconic red-roof restaurants are now holding it back, so the brand looks to satisfy America’s increasingly demanding palate.

In 2009, Domino’s went into crisis mode after a prank threatened to ruin the brand’s already substandard image. You might say that was a wake up call. The company would go on to invest heavily in technology and delivery in the intervening years. Meanwhile, Pizza Hut doubled down on its sit-in restaurants and fancier toppings, but their investment barely moved the needle on profits. Now after 60 years of jockeying for the top spot in the pizza hierarchy, Domino’s has pulled out in front of its biggest competitor. But there are even more challenges coming to Pizza Hut and Domino’s, not to mention the entire restaurant industry itself. To dig into this more David is joined by Sam Oches. He’s the editorial director of Food News Media, a B2B company specializing in the fast casual industry.