'Pizza-copter': Domino's new 'drone-delivery' method takes fast-food to the skies
It’s a bird... it’s a plane... it’s a pizza drone!
Pizza will soon be raining from the skies over Australia with the release of Domino’s new commercial drone delivery service.
The new system is a world first, allowing Dominos to offer the fastest fast-food on earth.
The long-awaited pizza drone is being successfully trialled in Victoria with plans to expand across the country.
The pizza chopper flies 60 metres in the air to avoid power lines and tops speeds of 30kph.
Once the destination has been reached, a cable lowers the pizza down to the ground and releases the product before the drone returns to the restaurant.
Back yard deliveries will start in Auckland in October, then expand to six more countries including Australia.
Dominos CEO Don Meij said there were exciting times ahead for his business.
“It’s really cool, it’s really interesting, you're going to get a faster delivery we think,” he told 7 News. “I mean, it’s the future and it’s already here.”
The pizza chain has cornered the market by combining technology and food.
It’s also trialling a self-driving delivery robot in addition to its drones.
Con Stavros, Associate Professor of Economics at RMIT University, said the investment was sure to pay off for Dominos.
“This is just another step forward for them,” he said.
“They're really becoming a tech company as much as a pizza company these days which is really exciting.”
The new service will slice delivery times, bypass traffic and reach isolated customers.
The company is also working on ways to expand delivery distances and ensure the pizza arrives piping hot.
