For most of the world, Domino's for breakfast means a cold slice of leftover pizza. However, there are at least two places that this is no longer true: Australia and Dayton, Ohio.
Domino's announced today that it would add an all-day Aussie breakfast pizza to its menu for Australians craving egg-and-bacon pizza at any hour.
“If our customers wake up feeling like bacon and eggs we want to be able to give them bacon and eggs!” Domino's global development chef Stefaan Cordon said in a statement. “If they come home late at night and feel like bacon and eggs we want to be able to deliver them bacon and eggs – that’s the beauty of the all-day Aussie brekky pizza!”
While few American pizza lovers have had the chance to try a Domino's breakfast pizza, there is at least one Domino's franchisee stateside who serves it. Tristan Koehler offers breakfast pizza at all 19 of his Domino's locations in Dayton, Ohio (his one restaurant outside of Dayton doesn't serve the menu item).
Koehler decided to begin selling breakfast pizza because he had the perfect market: a 24-hour location on Dayton University's campus, where the breakfast pizza is sold at any hour of the day.
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"Breakfast pizza has a long history in the pizza business," says Koehler. Domino's even sold a breakfast pizza for a limited time in the '80s. Koehler and his team were able to get a hold of Domino's breakfast pizza recipe. After making a few tweaks, the resulting pie – which Koehler describes as similar to a quiche -- was approved for sale in Dayton by Domino's corporate offices.
The breakfast pizza was a hit from the start at Koehler's 24-hour University of Dayton location. Customers who arrive by at 3, 4 or even 5 a.m. after a long night of studying or drinking almost overlap with early morning customers. On-the-go students gravitate towards pizza as a quick bite to eat at any time of day. Plus, university students are more open-minded about trying a new type of pizza, especially after Koehler aggressively markets the option early in the school year.
After the breakfast pizza's success at the University of Dayton store, Koehler decided to roll out the breakfast pizza at all Dayton Domino's in February 2013.
"It sold okay, but it wasn't like it was at University of Dayton," says Koehler. "I think it's definitely a mixed product."
While the breakfast pizza isn't as big of a hit off-campus, it has become a menu-mainstay for Koehler's Domino's restaurants.
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As fast-food chains like Taco Bell and McDonald's become increasingly obsessed with breakfast, does Domino's breakfast pizza have a promising future outside of Dayton? Probably not, Koehler says.
"You've got to look at it case by case," says Koehler. "Pizza skews more toward late-night than other places do." If breakfast pizza was to catch on, he says, it would be on other college campuses or in cities with plenty of 24-hour-offerings, like New York.
Where does that leave Australia's brekky pizza? Surprisingly, in pretty good shape. The breakfast pizza will likely do better in Australia than anywhere outside of college campuses in the U.S. Domino's is already huge down under, with 970 stores in Australia and New Zealand. Plus, in Australia, egg on a pizza isn't such a foreign concept: an " Aussie Pizza " refers to a pizza with bacon or ham and eggs.
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