Domino’s turn vegetarian for Navratri festival

We can say that it’s probably the first time a western ¬style quick service restaurant (QSR) is converting to a Navratri menu on such a large scale. Domino's Pizza will turn half of its outlets all¬ vegetarian during the auspicious nine¬ day Navratri festive period starting early next month in an unprecedented move to draw more customers as the Indian unit of the US pizza giant seeks to recover from its slowest same ¬store sales growth in almost two years. Starting October 1 for nine days, about 500 Domino's stores across north and central India and parts of the west will stop serving non ¬vegetarian food.

Food outlets and QSRs typically see dwindling sales during the Navratri period, which ends 21 days before Diwali. In the past, too, Domino's has served vegetarian food during this festive period, but only at select stores and not for delivery orders. "Consumption of non¬ vegetarian food reduces significantly during this time. This move is an acknowledgement that though we are a global brand, we are conscious about consumer needs. It's about making a statement to consumers," Domino's Pizza India President Dev Amritesh told ET. With many people abstaining from meat, wheat, garlic, onions and processed foods, the Navratri menu will include pizza bases made of singhara atta (water chestnut flour), saabudana crispies and dumplings and cheese and sauces with only rock salt. The pizza chain will not use garlic and onion and will do away with grains that aren't consumed during the period. "Pizza being a very versatile product, we have been able to create this menu," Amritesh said. Turning all ¬vegetarian for such a large number of stores was a huge initiative involving logistical challenges and aligning with suppliers, he said. With 1,062 restaurants in 248 cities, Domino's leads the organised pizza market with a more than 70% share.

By turning vegetarian, Domino's is hoping to attract more orders and boost sales growth, which had been slowing with consumers cutting back on discretionary spending.