In the tough Chinese pizza market, Domino’s Pizza China is expanding aggressively and boosting revenue and profits through product innovation, digitalization, and operational excellence.
While most restaurant chains in China are struggling to balance growth with profitability, one pizza operator has found a way to do both.
DPC Dash Ltd.—Domino’s Pizza China (1405.HK) delivered a standout performance in 2025, bucking headwinds across China’s competitive quick-service restaurant sector with a combination of aggressive expansion and improving unit economics that has caught the attention of industry observers.
The Hong Kong–listed company ended the year with 1,315 stores across 60 Chinese cities—a net addition of 307 locations—while expanding its loyalty membership base to 35.6 million customers. Tier 1 city markets delivered positive same-store sales growth for both the first and second halves, as well as the full year 2025. More significantly, the company achieved substantial double-digit group-level EBITDA and operating profit growth, demonstrating that its expansion isn’t coming at the expense of profitability, a trap that has ensnared many of its competitors in China’s brutally competitive restaurant market.
China’s pizza market is in the midst of rapid consolidation as smaller players exit and chain operators consolidate in an increasingly concentrated landscape. DPC Dash has solidified its position as the country’s No. 2 pizza operator by revenue, but it’s the quality of that growth that sets the company apart. The company recorded revenue of RMB 5.38 billion (more than $781 million) in 2025, and group-level adjusted EBITDA surged 28.2% year-over-year to RMB 634.6 million (about $92 million), with adjusted net profit growing 43.3% year-over-year.
This profitability came even as the company pursued an ambitious expansion strategy. On January 1, 2026, the company opened 62 stores in 46 cities, the highest daily opening record in its history. The strategy aligns with broader industry trends showing accelerating growth in lower tier cities, where Western quick-service brands are finding less saturated markets and hungry consumers. On a conference call discussing the full year results, Aileen Wang, CEO of DPC Dash, explained the company’s disciplined expansion strategy as combining strategically “deepening” penetration in existing cities while also “broadening” reach into new markets. This approach has further extended the company’s presence into high-potential regions across China.
New store performance has been particularly impressive: DPC Dash’s first store in Dalian generated sales close to RMB700,000 (approximately $101,650)on the grand opening day, setting a new record in Domino’s global system. Perhaps most telling, as of January 31, 2026, the company held all top 50 positions in the global records of Domino’s Pizza for the first 30-day sales of new stores, such as the first stores in Xuzhou, Handan, and Huhehaote.
In an industry in which same-store sales growth has become increasingly elusive, DPC Dash maintained positive comparable sales in Tier 1 city markets in the second half and throughout 2025, where the restaurant landscape is littered with failed concepts. The performance reflects the team’s capabilities in effective customer engagement and marketing campaigns, strong execution of development and operations, a focus on value-for-money, and a tasty and innovative product offering. The company focuses on product enhancements and innovation to deliver strong value and quality, regularly introducing new flavors and crusts and adding more toppings to signature pizzas without price increases. A 93% on-time delivery rate is also one of the key differentiators in the China market, where consumers also have come to expect near-perfect execution.
DPC Dash has also worked to increase purchase frequency through successful marketing campaigns, including signature limited-time promotions and collaborations with popular characters to drive traffic beyond traditional dining occasions. Going beyond just adjusting toppings to local tastes, the company also partners with cultural and creative brands and introduces limited-time promotions tied to Chinese festivals and traditions. As more young Chinese are promoting national cultural creativity, DPC Dash actively embraces this trend while also leveraging its global branding impact. These efforts have helped the company add more than 10 million loyalty members to 35.6 million in 2025, with 15.4 million first-time customers placing orders with Domino’s Pizza China during the year.
Behind the consumer-facing initiatives lies sophisticated digital infrastructure that has become a genuine competitive moat. The company’s systems enable demand forecasting, inventory management, and delivery routing capabilities that directly translate to lower costs and faster expansion. These operational efficiencies have allowed DPC Dash to maintain strong unit economics even as it enters new markets, providing a sustainable foundation for continued growth.
While DPC Dash’s 2025 results were impressive, the competitive landscape remains intense. Global peers continue to refine store formats for the China market, while domestic competitors are expanding aggressively into lower tier cities. Market research firm Frost & Sullivan projects China’s pizza market will reach RMB 77.1 billion (approximately $11.2 billion) by 2027, implying a 15.5% compound annual growth rate—attractive economics that are drawing increased competitive attention. The company kicked off 2026 by opening its 1,405th store in Hainan on January 25, a symbolic number that matches its Hong Kong exchange stock ticker, signaling no letup in its expansion pace. The company also announced in its earnings report that approximately 350 new stores are expected to be opened in 2026.
“Our strong execution track record, attractive store economics, and operational efficiency enable us to deliver robust performances while maintaining margins in a dynamic and competitive landscape,” commented Wang.
Whether DPC Dash can maintain its profitable growth trajectory while fending off intensifying competition will be the key question for investors in 2026. For now, the company stands as a compelling case study in how international restaurant brands can succeed in China’s notoriously difficult market through localization, operational excellence, and digital sophistication—a playbook that’s proving increasingly difficult for competitors to replicate. In a market in which many Western fast-food brands have stumbled, DPC Dash’s ability to grow both its footprint and its profits simultaneously suggests it may have cracked the code on sustainable expansion in the world’s most competitive restaurant market.
Note: This article was supplied by DPC Dash—Domino’s Pizza China.