Bangkok’s pizza makers go flat out in promotions battle

The battle was sparked when The Pizza Company, under the umbrella of large conglomerate Minor Food, began offering medium-sized pizzas at 99 baht apiece on Tuesday. The price had been brought down from 299 baht.

The promotion was an immediate hit, as pizza lovers rushed to their nearest The Pizza Company outlet to make the most of the offer. Demand for food-delivery apps also surged, resulting in food-delivery staff having to wait for more than an hour to pick up their orders.

However, the promotion came to a shuddering halt in a few hours because some branches stopped taking orders. They just did not have the capacity to meet the demand.

The following day, Pizza Hut, a brand under the American multinational fast food company Yum! Brands, jumped on the trend and began offering medium-sized pizzas at 98 baht a piece from the original price of 299 baht. One baht lower than The Pizza Company’s promotion.

But there was a twist. Customers were required to place their orders in advance on Wednesday, and pick up their pizza at any Pizza Hut branch on a Thursday or Friday.

Upon learning of this promotion, The Pizza Company retaliated by saying in a Facebook post that Pizza Hut can copy its promotions, but cannot copy the taste.

However, Pizza Hut’s ordering system crashed on the day of the launch as many people placed their orders for pizza, forcing it to give up the promotion and apologise to customers via Facebook the following day.

But Thai pizza lovers refused to give up so easily, and challenged the third pizza brand, Domino’s, to launch a similar promotion.

Domino’s, however, refused to bite and instead posted a Facebook message on Thursday saying it will always serve up good pizzas at reasonable prices.

“When you think about pizza, don’t forget Domino’s. We promise we will make the tastiest, freshest and best pizza for you,” it said.