Domino's Pizza Proves It's The Big Cheese!

ANN ARBOR, Mich., May 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pizza Today® magazine, the leading publication in the pizza industry, today announced Domino's Pizza, Inc. (NYSE: DPZ), the recognized world leader in pizza delivery, as its 2010 Chain of the Year award recipient. This marks the second time Domino's received this accolade. Jeremy White, editor-in-chief of the monthly trade publication, says Domino's was honored with the coveted award for what they have accomplished over the last year and for setting a new bar for the industry.

"Choosing Domino's as our 2010 Chain of the Year was a no-brainer for us," said White. "The company is in the midst of one of the most exciting transformations in foodservice history. It took ambition, diligence and a lot of moxie for Domino's to throw its core product out the window and reinvent itself from the crust up. The move may have been bold, but it is paying big dividends as evidenced by the company's insanely impressive first quarter results. No foodservice entity in the nation is being more aggressive or more productive than Domino's Pizza.  Pizza Today is thrilled to be covering it up close in our forthcoming June issue."

"It is a great honor to be recognized for our efforts and accomplishments of this past year. Our recent sales growth confirms that consumers overwhelmingly prefer our new pizza," said Patrick Doyle, President and CEO, Domino's Pizza. "I applaud the hard work of our exceptional people – franchisees, marketing and ad agency team, store managers and team members worldwide - who continue to help us achieve our vision of being the best pizza delivery company in the world."

Celebrating 50 years in the business, Domino's Pizza announced late last year a change to its core pizza recipe, reinvented to deliver more taste with a seasoned crust, robust sauce, more flavorful shredded cheese. Other highlights from the last year include:

• Record sales growth - 2010 first quarter same store sales gained 14.3%, ranking as one of the largest quarterly same-store sales jumps ever recorded by a major fast-food chain.
• Milestone store opening - opened 9,000th store in March.
• Raised record $2 million for the kids at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
• Reinvented core menu - added lots of great new permanent products to the lineup (Oven Baked Sandwiches, Bread Bowl Pasta, American Legends specialty pizzas, Chocolate Lava Crunch Cakes).
• Built an amazing platform for online ordering - averaging nearly 25 percent of sales, with some stores as high as 45 percent.
• Phenomenal International growth trajectory - 65 quarters of consecutive same store sales growth.
• Ranked No. 1 in the American Customer Satisfaction Index in 2009.

Domino's Pizza will be on the cover of Pizza Today's June issue and profiled extensively inside the magazine.

About Domino's Pizza

Founded in 1960, Domino's Pizza is the recognized world leader in pizza delivery. Domino's is listed on the NYSE under the symbol "DPZ." Through its primarily locally-owned and operated franchised system, Domino's operates a network of 9,036 franchised and Company-owned stores in the United States and over 60 international markets. The Domino's Pizza® brand, named a Megabrand by Advertising Age magazine, had global retail sales of over $5.6 billion in 2009, comprised of nearly $3.1 billion domestically and over $2.5 billion internationally. Domino's Pizza was named "Chain of the Year" two times by Pizza Today magazine, the leading publication of the pizza industry. During the first quarter of 2010, the Domino's Pizza® brand had global retail sales of over $1.4 billion, comprised of nearly $823 million domestically and over $644 million internationally. In 2009, Domino's ranked number one in customer satisfaction in a survey of consumers of the U.S. largest limited service restaurants, according to the annual American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI).  Domino's has expanded its menu significantly since 2008 to include Oven Baked Sandwiches and BreadBowl Pasta™, and recently debuted its 'Inspired New Pizza' – a permanent change to its core hand-tossed product, reinvented from the crust up with new sauce, cheese and garlic seasoned crust.

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About Pizza Today

Pizza Today, launched in 1982, is a monthly trade publication with a circulation of approximately 45,000. The magazine is geared towards helping owners and operators of pizza restaurants make their businesses more efficient and profitable. For more information on Pizza Today, or Pizza Expo™, log on to www.pizzatoday.com

SOURCE Domino's Pizza, Inc.