DPC Dash, the exclusive franchisee of Domino’s Pizza in China, has announced plans to heavily expand the chain’s presence in the Asian market.
As part of the expansion, the chain has designed a menu catered toward local tastes, including several seafood options to accomplish that goal.
DPC Dash opened 14 new Domino’s stores across 13 mainland China cities during the 2024 holiday period, including outlets in cities like Chongqing and Shenyang.
Company spokesperson Qian Sijia told SeafoodSource that the chain’s updated menu in China features abalone and eel pizza; sea cucumber, abalone, and prawn pizza; and crayfish and chicken pizza as part of its push to secure customers in China’s inland cities with “delicious pizza at value.”
Other menu items include a beef and seafood pizza, avocado prawn bacon pizza, Japanese-style eel pizza, and pineapple shrimp pizza.
“DPC Dash outlets also offer shrimp pie, squid pie, golden shrimp, and seafood pasta with scallop and squid egg to name but a few,” Qian said.
DPC Dash now oversees more than 1,000 stores across 46 Chinese cities, which is up tenfold on the 100 stores the firm operated in the country by the end of 2017. The firm said it plans to open 300 and 350 new dine-in stores annually in 2025 and 2026, respectively, as part of its "Go Deeper, Go Broader" network strategy that focuses on smaller cities.
With such a rapid expansion, DPC is hoping its seafood-rich menu will draw consumers seeking novel menu items in what is a heavily competitive quick-service market.
Slowing economic growth has largely dampened consumer confidence in China, forcing major domestic restaurant chains in the space, like grilled fish chain Tai Er, to cut back ambitious expansion plans.