Unprecedented increases in the cost of food ingredients have delivered Domino’s Pizza an additional charge of £450,000 for mozzarella, the chain said today.
Domino’s UK and Ireland said with the price of the raw materials used in its pizzas soaring and the unforeseen collapse of its main cheese supplier in March, a new supply contract had lead to a £1,060 per tonne increase in the price of mozzarella.
The pizza delivery giant, which has 480 stores in the UK and Ireland, said it had chosen to absorb most of the increase to give its franchisees time to decide whether to change their menu pricing to reflect the increased cost.
In a trading update for the 13 weeks to 30 September, the company also revealed a senior management shake-up.
At the end of the calendar year, chairman Colin Halpern will retire from his executive role to become non-executive vice-chairman.
He will be replaced by chief executive Stephen Hemsley, who becomes executive chairman. Hemsley will be succeeded by deputy chief executive Chris Moore.
Like-for-like sales at the company’s 404 mature stores were 14.2% up on last year in the period. System sales increased 22.5% to £70.7m (2006: £57.8m).
Domino’s said sales through its websites in the UK and Ireland increased year-on-year to 60.4% to £7.7m.
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By Chris Druce
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