It’s time for Italians to get exposed to one of America’s favourite foods: pizza.
As of Oct. 5, in fact, Domino’s has come to Italy and is letting the locals pick up the phone, or go online, to order an American pie. Indeed, the offer of Domino’s is pretty similar to any local Italian pizzeria: instead of “mozzarella cheese,” people can order actual mozzarella, and even mozzarella di buffalo. There’s no option of toppings such as chicken or corn—commonplace in the US—for Italian customers, who’d presumably be horrified by the very thought.
But the chain is importing something unknown to the Italian pizza-making tradition: a Hawaiian, or pizza with ham and pineapple.
“Innovative” ingredients and reasonable prices—a simple margherita from Domino’s is €5 (about $5.60), which is about average—aren’t, however, the only way the company (which right now only has a single outlet in Milan) plans to take over the country. Something else Domino’s is bringing to Italy is “the innovative technology that will allow customers to order online, too,” Alessandro Lazzaroni, the franchise’s partner in Italy, told Il Sole 24 Ore (link in Italian).
It is unclear whether it will be harder for Italians to embrace pineapple on their pizza or the mind-blowing, futuristic opportunity to order online.
This is not the first time an American company has tried to sell the Italians back something they invented.
In 2011, ice-cream maker Ben and Jerry opened two outlets in Italy, one in Florence and one in the amusement park of Mirabilandia, only to shut them down by 2013. Starbucks, too, thought about trying its luck, reportedly setting itself to “rock Italy’s coffee culture” in 2012. But, as of now, the number of Starbucks outlets in the county remains zero.