Although some may attribute Domino’s failure to its brazen attempt to infiltrate pizza’s homeland with American fare, ePizza said it went bust because of competition from food delivery apps.
The Milan-based company faced “unprecedented competition” from local restaurants that started using services such as Glovo, Just Eat and Deliveroo during the pandemic, the court filing said.
Domino’s said in a document, attached to the court filing, that ePizza’s troubles last year were the result of “significantly increased level of competition in the food delivery market with both organized chains and ‘mom & pop’ restaurants delivering food to survive.”
It said it also faced problems once pandemic restrictions were eased and consumers started visiting sit-down restaurants again.
The Milan court had granted the company a 90-day grace period, during which its creditors were not allowed to demand repayment or take its assets. That expired at the start of July.
By the start of 2020, ePizza was managing 23 stores in Italy and six more through a sub-franchise partner.
Neither Domino’s nor ePizza immediately responded to CNN Business’ request for comment.
