Pizza Market Saturation? Domino's Pizza Chief Executive Exits After Move Towards Chicken.

The head of Domino's Pizza Group who proposed the UK might have hit maximum pizza demand while diversifying the company into fried chicken has been replaced after tensions with its directors.

Executive Transition

Rennie is leaving after just two years in the top role, and will be succeeded on an interim basis by the company's operations head, Nicola Frampton, while Domino's looks for a new leader.

The outgoing executive, who was with the company for more than two decades, had aimed to redirect the UK's biggest pizza takeaway chain towards fried chicken, commenting recently there was not “massive growth” left in the British pizza industry. He said poultry was the quickest rising food category in the international market.

Governance Friction

It is understood that there was disagreement between the CEO and the directors over his focus and direction, although Domino's announcement said he was leaving “as a joint decision”.

Recent Product Introduction

In the autumn, Domino's launched its poultry offering – which Rennie called a “major strategic shift” for the group – and is trialling it in 210 outlets in the North West region and Northern Ireland.

While the firm is still intending to launch it across its extensive network in the coming year as intended, it considers fried chicken as a supplement for its primary pizza operations.

Board Statement

The Domino's chair, the company chairman, commented: “We are confident that there are a number of opportunities to boost expansion and performance improvement in Domino's core business. We are concentrating on selecting the suitable leader to direct the careful implementation of that expansion plan.”

Industry Challenges

In the latest update, the pizza delivery giant, which has 13 million customers in the British Isles, said orders dipped by 1.5 percent in the third quarter. In the summer, it alerted that the food delivery sector had “grown more challenging” as it blamed economic uncertainty in the run-up to the budget and rising wage costs for below-target performance and a 15% drop in interim earnings.

Other pizza operators are also struggling. Another major chain disclosed the closure of 68 restaurants a recently, after the firm behind its outlets fell into administration.

Wellness Efforts

Adapting to consumer trends towards better nutrition, the company has introduced lower-calorie options, such as its light base selection of pizzas below 400 calories as well as meat-free and wheat-free pizzas. A big pepperoni bake has 2,311 calories. A large cheese and tomato pizza has 2,171 kcal, while a individual has 909 kcal.

Interim Leadership

Frampton has been with Domino's since the recent past, and had a background at the gambling company a well-known operator. It is thought that she is not seeking to occupy the top job permanently.

She commented: “We have a number of ongoing growth and efficiency programs that we will be dedicated to implementing at pace.”

She said these involved further work on the organization's logistics network and menu innovation, and its loyalty scheme.

Domino's is also without a full-time CFO until 16 March, when Andy Andrea starts from the beverage producer a well-known firm. For now, Richard Snow is acting financial officer.