Russia’s pizza delivery franchise Dodo has won its first significant international award at the Global Restaurant Leadership Conference (GLRC) Award 2019 in Singapore as “Best Innovative Company of the Year,” the organizers said in a press release.
“We are pleased to recognize Dodo Pizza in the Innovation category for its pioneering efforts to develop and incorporate its own proprietary digital operating platform and its well-demonstrated commitment to transparency into all aspects of its business, from publishing monthly store sales to visibility into unit-level kitchen operations,” the organizers of the award said.
Founded just eight years ago, Russia-based Dodo has developed into one of the industry’s first truly digital-first concepts, with technology figuring into all aspects of operations. That reliance has helped the chain expand to 510 locations in 12 countries. In its native land, Dodo is larger than Domino’s and Papa John’s combined. System-wide sales hit $215 million last year. The chain is also proving that transparency for both customers and employees is appreciated everywhere today, the GRLC said in its explanation for the award.
Last month, Dodo Pizza’s founder and owner, Fyodor Ovchinnikov, who was dubbed “the freshly crowned franchise czar of Russia” by Western media, said he is betting beyond his country and into global expansion with the help of cloud technology.
To achieve this goal, the entrepreneur says he plans to use Dodo IS, a proprietary mix of application software and analytics stored in the cloud. Overseen by a “chief agile officer” and maintained by 120 technicians, it provides, among many other things, instant monitoring of cash flows, inventories and service times at every location in the network, all viewable with just a few taps on a tablet. And mandatory, live-streaming kitchen cams allow anyone with an internet connection to watch a Dodo pizza being made.
