American chain Domino’s Pizza has announced plans to invest €2.6 million in Portugal with the opening of 13 new pizza parlours by the end of 2016 – and a very clear goal to outgrow Pizza Hut and become the “leader of Portugal’s pizza market”.
With three outlets already open in Lisbon, plans are to open three more this year and another 10 in 2016.
Then the plan will be to start “expanding with franchising deals”, Francisco Serra, the head of Daufood – which is in charge of Domino’s operations in Portugal – told Diário de Notícias newspaper.
“Our goal is to become the leader of Portugal’s pizza market,” explained Eric Andersen, the vice-president of Domino’s in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
“We have significant plans to expand in the next two decades, and want to have over 100 Domino’s outlets in the long term,” he stated.
Andersen said that while the plan is to expand across the country, the chain wants to establish itself first in Lisbon and Porto.
If all goes according to plan, Domino’s Pizza could create as many as 400 jobs as part of its expansion plans. It currently employs around 90 people.
Worldwide, Domino’s Pizza has over 9,000 outlets in 60 countries.
