Domino’s Pizza last month launched its “Moreflation” promotion, taking aim at the rise in consumer complaints about shrinking portion sizes from across the foodservice and retail landscape. Dubbed “shrinkflation”—cutting product sizes while charging the same or higher prices—the practice is now drawing attention from lawmakers.
For Domino’s franchisee Pat Farmer, the campaign was an extension of the brand’s core messaging, which he described as “doing a little more when others do less.”
“I love this promotion because it speaks to where the consumer is right now,” said Farmer. “When everybody is doing this, we’re going to go above and beyond.”
It’s a good thing Farmer believes in “Moreflation,” because he was the face of its TV spots. And while the promo—a mix-and-match offer where online customers ordering two or more medium two-topping pizzas for $6.99 each could upgrade one pizza to a large for free—ended September 29, Farmer said the value proposition for Domino’s is ongoing.
Now a 61-unit franchisee with restaurants in Idaho, Oregon and Washington, Farmer’s connection to Domino’s dates back to 1982, when his dad, Jeff Farmer, started as a dough roller. Seeing the success of the store’s owner, the elder Farmer pursued his own franchise in a system that at the time was still in its early growth stage in the Northwest, opening his first store in 1987.
From left, Domino’s franchisees Jeff and Gina Farmer with their children Pat Farmer, Jackie Jamieson, Chris Farmer and Jessica Hughes.
“All of us kids grew up working in the business,” said Pat Farmer, who at 42 is the oldest of four. “We were hanging fliers on people’s doors and eventually working in the stores.” He didn’t go directly to a career in pizza, however, but instead worked for nonprofit Young Life for several years after college. His eye, though, was always on Domino’s.
“I’d been watching Domino’s for a long time—it’s had some ebbs and flows,” said Farmer as he noted the brand’s struggles through the early 2000s. By 2012 it was in the midst of a resurgence under CEO Patrick Doyle, who’s now executive chairman of Restaurant Brands International, and Farmer came back to manage a store. He later sold his house to buy his first Domino’s in 2013.
“Dad wanted each of us to own our stores 100 percent on our own,” said Farmer of himself and his brother, Chris, who each had two units in 2014. The three have since combined forces, and over the years have built more than 20 new stores and acquired others to get to the 61-unit mark. Another four are in development.
Farmer’s sisters, Jessica Hughes and Jackie Jamieson, are also in Domino’s. Hughes operates three of her own stores, while Jamieson manages five and is the process of becoming a franchisee. Several employees have likewise gone on to open restaurants, Farmer noted.
Being successful in the Domino’s system and reaching large-scale status requires “being really good at delegating and trusting your people,” he said. “You have to give people the opportunity to lead, to set up and make decisions. And you have to have really high expectations.”
Finding inefficiencies in operations—and creating solutions—is another mark of a strong franchisee, and something Farmer said “we’re really good at.” Working with friend and fellow franchisee Shane Casey, they created what’s now known as Load ‘N Go, a system to cut down the time it takes for a pizza to get out the door once it’s baked.
“There’s a whole curriculum out there now that other franchisees can use,” he said.
Farmer’s stores are performing well and the brand overall is in “a great position in the marketplace,” he said. “We have outstanding leadership that’s constantly talking about sales and top-line growth … and they’ve always followed that with franchisee profitability.”
Average weekly unit sales in 2023 were $25,810, the company reported in its franchise disclosure document, up slightly from $25,334 in 2022.
Domino’s today reported a 3 percent increase in U.S. same-store sales for the third quarter ended September 8, a slight miss on analyst expectations. Foot traffic grew 8.3 percent on average for July through September, compared with a year ago.
“This was our fourth consecutive quarter of same-store sales growth since launching Hungry for MORE, proof that our strategy is working,” CEO Russell Weiner told investors, referencing the five-year plan announced in December 2023. Of the “Moreflation” promo, Weiner said it showed customers “Domino’s was in their corner, giving them more for less.”
The Ann Arbor, Michigan-based company cut its global retail sales growth projection for 2024 to 6 percent from 7 percent, and told investors during the October 10 earnings call it expects to add between 800 and 850 new stores globally this year. That’s down from an earlier projection for 825 to 925 new units. In July it suspended guidance for at least 1,100 new stores, citing challenges faced by master franchisee Domino’s Pizza Enterprises.
International same-store sales were up 0.8 percent for the third quarter.
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The brand’s “Emergency Pizza” program returned this week, with customers who place an order now through January 19, 2025, able to earn a free pizza. The promo launched for the first time in October 2023 and, according to the company, brought a flood of orders and millions more members into the Domino’s loyalty program. It’ll aim to duplicate that success this time around. Ranked No. 8 on the Franchise Times Top 400, Domino’s did systemwide sales of $18.28 billion from 20,591 locations in 2023.
Domino’s is bringing back its “Emergency Pizza” program now through January 19, 2025, after a successful run last year.