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his stores with Domino’s, becoming the
fourth shareholder of the company
and its National Corporate Operations
Manager. “That was obviously a big step for
me, to go from being the franchisee to the
franchisor, and I
faced another big
learning curve in
2005 when
Domino’s went
from private to
public,” Andrew
admits. “The next
big milestone was
buying into Europe
in 2006, when we
bought into France,
Belgium and the
Netherlands; around
155 stores.
“An Australian
company going into Europe was a huge step
and involved a lot of learning,” Andrew adds.
“We had to think about what the local
consumers wanted. Customers in Germany
are different from those in France, who are
different again from those in the Netherlands
and Belgium. We couldn’t think of ourselves
as this one brand with one style of pizza, we
had to ensure we catered to their taste in
terms of their preferences. “With the different
geographies in Europe, we had to be
adaptable, compared with Australia where you
only catered to Australian tastes.”
Appointed president of the French and
Belgium operations, Andrew relocated to
France where he grew the brand to
200 stores, transforming it into the largest
pizza company in the region.
In August 2010, he moved back to
Australia to take up the new position of
COO, and was promoted to CEO for
Australia and New Zealand in 2013. Later
that year he was appointed to the role of
European CEO of DPE, with Germany
added to his patch.
It’s clear Andrew isn’t one to sit idle. But
he’s a leader who takes the good with the
bad, including when he “doesn’t always get
things right”, as he admits he didn’t last year,
with the market punishing the company forthe miss. Andrew took the blame squarely on
the chin. The company had failed to meet its
targets and a glitch in Europe’s online
platform contributed to the earnings miss.
“We were priced to perfection and when
you have
something in
your strategy that
doesn’t quite go
to plan, you miss
out. I’ve learned
a lot from that
and as we say
internally, if
you’re going to
fail, fail fast, learn
what you can
and come back
stronger than
ever. That’s
exactly what
we’ve done and we aren’t looking back.”
While Andrew understands it’s vital to
constantly tease the tastebuds of customers,
particularly when the demand for healthier
ingredients is accelerating, he’s more excited
by the technology emerging that will change
the way pizzas are produced and delivered.
He’s investing heavily in the company’s
digital infrastructure and supporting strategies
such as using drones and robots to deliver
pizzas door-to-door. These innovations are
what he envisages will keep DPE ahead of
its competitors.
In 2016, New Zealand became the first
country in the world to trial a Domino’s
drone delivery. In less than five minutes,
avoiding traffic lights and congestion, the
Peri-Peri Chicken and Chicken and
Cranberry pizzas were delivered to a home
in Whangaparaoa, about 25 kilometres north
of Auckland.
New Zealand was chosen for the
experiment because of its more flexible »DID YOU KNOW?
The three dots featured in the Domino’s
logo represent the first three stores
operating in 1969. The original plan was
to add one new dot to the logo for every
store that opened. The idea was quickly
abandoned as the business took off and
the number of stores grew.“Working with Domino’s is exciting because of their
professional attitude. They strive for perfection in everything
they do. They take the best that exists and improve it. When
it does not exist, they create it – this is what unites us.” – Karl
Heinz Driller, Managing Director, GoodMills Innovation GmbHINNOVATE | Interview