Dominos launches “Contact-Free” pizza delivery service

The coronavirus pandemic is affecting every area of the global economy. The food industry has already been particularly badly hit, as cities and countries around the world take drastic action to try and curb the spread of the virus. Between government-led curfews and skittish customers, it’s a bad time to be serving food. 

On the flip side, as terrified diners spend their evenings cowering on the sofa, there’s arguably never been a better time to offer take out. Coronavirus might be scary, but we can at least distract ourselves with a quarantine diet of curry and General Tso’s chicken. Never ones to miss a marketing opportunity, Domino’s has clearly cottoned on. 

In a bid to appeal to the newly house-bound dining community, the famous pizza chain has attempted to make their notoriously unhealthy food as healthy as possible, just not in the way you might imagine. Instead of having their delivery drivers hand customers their pizza, Domino’s has introduced a novel “Contact-Free” delivery method, allowing customers to never come within two metres of whoever has brought dinner. 

As per LadBible, Domino’s UK CEO David Wild provided a lengthy statement outlining the news policy, explaining:

“For customers who want to feel even safer when ordering, from next week we will launch Contact Free Delivery. This service comes at no additional charge and is in response to some customers wishing to limit physical contact during the current COVID-19 outbreak. We’re pleased to be able to offer this across every Domino’s store in the UK and Ireland.

“By introducing Contact Free Delivery, we believe that we will give our customers peace of mind when ordering a Domino’s, while also protecting our delivery drivers.”

Credit: PA

He continued:

“You can select a Contact Free Delivery at the checkout on our app or website when placing your order. Your driver will call you when they arrive to agree where you want your food left. Once the order has been placed in the agreed location, the driver will stay at least two meters away while you collect your order.

“To ensure the service is truly contact free, all Contact Free Delivery orders must be pre-paid online or over the phone.”

Obviously, it’s impossible to cook any food without at least one person touching it once. Despite this clear flaw in the “Contact Free” plan, Wild has reassured his customers that Domino’s are doing everything they can to keep interaction to a minimum. As he explained:

“Domino’s understands the trust you place in us to deliver safe, freshly prepared pizza and takes this responsibility incredibly seriously.

“I wanted to reassure you that the safety and wellbeing of customers and colleagues is always our top priority. Domino’s already has very high hygiene standards and strict food handling procedures.”

“In light of the current situation we’re carefully following the advice from health authorities. We’ve implemented a number of additional precautions such as increased hand washing and sanitisation.

“Everyone at Domino’s is working tirelessly to ensure we continue to provide you with the level of service and quality you’d expect from us during these challenging times.”

We might be living in scary times, but at least we can now legitimately claim that pizza could be a health food.