Domino’s says AI has improved pizza quality

Pizza retailer Domino’s claims a piece of scanning technology it first introduced in May has boosted the quality of its products.

The retail chain’s DOM Pizza Checker – which incorporates artificial intelligence and machine learning technology – has scanned more than 13 million pizzas since testing and training started around two years ago. This has boosted product quality scores, as rated by customers, by more than 15 per cent, Dominos says.

In its latest update to the technology, customers will be shown a real-time image of their pizza before it’s cut, boxed and sent out the door.

Dominos said customers now have complete visibility over their meal from the time they order including where it is in the making process, whether it has passed a quality test, what it looks like out of the oven and when it will be delivered.

Domino’s Australia and New Zealand CEO Nick Knight said pizza makers strive to get the product right but the reality of a busy store can sometimes mean pizzas go out which are “below the high standards we pride ourselves on and we want to fix that.”

“With DOM Pizza Checker keeping an eye on product quality, our customers can have greater confidence that their pizza will look as it should and if it doesn’t, we’ll make it right by making it again,” he says.

From today, pizza buyers across Australia and New Zealand will be able to view a real-time image of their pizza on the cut bench via the Live Pizza Tracker page and as part of this process will be notified whether it has passed a quality test or is being remade.

Domino’s said the stores with the highest average product quality scores across Australia since the launch of DOM Pizza Checker are Armidale East and Tura Beach in New South Wales, Kalamundra and Northam in Western Australia, Chinchilla and Wyalla in Queensland, Renmark in South Australia, Echuca and Drouin in Victoria and Sorell in Tasmania.

Domino’s has been at the forefront of technological innovation in quick food retail in recent years. Earlier this year, it released an online service that enables customers to track orders via their Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.

The retailer also launched New Pizza Chef with augmented reality for mobile devices, cashing in on the Pokemon gaming craze. The app uses augmented reality to show customer-created pizzas.

In 2017, the company created a voice assistant that lets customers order pizza by chatting to a bot, which was an Australian-first in the quick service restaurant industry.

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