Domino's pizzas to get smaller

Scott Bush, general manager of Domino's New Zealand, has said most pizzas will become smaller. Photo / File

Domino's pizzas look set to become smaller and more expensive.

In Australia the company changed its menu recently and New Zealand will follow suit.

Domino's New Zealand general manager Scott Bush said a new Quality Fresh menu, including 20 new pizzas and sides, had just been launched in New Zealand.

The new menu would see the Chef's Best rectangular pizzas scrapped and a new Premium range introduced.

The Premium pizzas would be bigger than the Chef's Best but the other 60 per cent of the menu would be slightly smaller.

The new menu would still include a Value and Traditional range.

Australian Domino's stores introduced seven new pizzas this month, most of which were more expensive.

In New Zealand a margherita pizza costs $6.99, but the same pizza in Australia costs A$9.95 (NZ$10.80).

Fairfax reported that a document sent to franchisees stated the new menu would emphasise quality and freshness over price.

This comes as Domino's Pizza Enterprises lost almost 20 per cent of its market value yesterday as investors reacted negatively to a lower-than-expected annual result.

The Herald reported today that the company posted net profit after tax of A$118.5 million ($128.2m). Although up 28.8 per cent on the previous year, the result missed the company's earnings and sales targets.

Domino's had previously forecast an earnings rise of 32.5 per cent. Same-store sales in Australia and New Zealand rose 13.6 per cent, compared to guidance of 14 per cent to 16 per cent.

Group chief executive Don Meij said although the result was good, the company had faced issues in Europe.

"We did a lot of heavy lifting this year, and we had a couple of stumbles," Meij said.

"We had a slip-up in France, where it took us longer to roll out this technology. It's now fixed.

"We also launched a value promotion there, which didn't connect with consumers. [That] also hurt our sales."