ITALY: The US-based Domino's Pizza, one of the biggest pizza restaurants in the world, has publicly given up on trying to establish a presence in the nation where pizza was first made.
According to media reports on Thursday, the company's Italian franchise partner, ePizza, has started the process of liquidating the company's Italian assets in the hope of recouping at least a portion of the initial investments. The company closed its last stores in Rome and Milan last year.
According to the Xinhua news agency, the company's Italian website was no longer active as of Thursday, and its final messages on social media accounts were made last year.
On Thursday, calls to ePizza were unanswered, but Domino's Pizza's US press office confirmed media stories about the company leaving Italy when Xinhua got in touch with them.
With $12.3 billion in annual global revenue, Domino's is the biggest pizza chain in the world, claims data website largest.org. Yet, the 63-year-old business was never able to take off in Italy.
The business began operations in Italy in 2015 with the intention of opening up to 880 locations there. But it only had 29 sites when it was at its busiest.
Although there are ancient records of soldiers making flatbread with toppings on their shields, the history of pizza is obscure. A poem from first-century BC Rome describes locals cooking bread and cheese on hot coals and calling it "pinsa," a term that is still used today for some varieties of Roman pizza.
Yet, it is believed that the contemporary pizza originated in Naples in the 18th century, where it was a filling staple for the underprivileged.
As of 2018, Domino's had approximately 15,000 stores, with 5,649 in the United States, 1,500 in India, and 1,249 in the United Kingdom. Domino's has stores in over 83 countries and 5,701 cities worldwide.
Also Watch: