Posted on 02/11/2009 11:06:56 AM PST by Stoat
Halal of an idea ... Domino's pizza
The group have opened the first halal-only pizza store in the country, catering to the needs of Muslim customers in the mixed race area of Hall Green, Birmingham.
The controversial menu change means Brummie pizza lovers hoping to tuck into classic pizzas like a Hawaiian with ham and pineapple will be disappointed.
Instead, they will have to travel over two miles to the next closest Domino's branch, something which has angered some non-Muslim customers who say they are being discriminated against.
One disgruntled punter Chris Yates, 29, a hospital worker living in Moseley said he was told he couldn't have a "Meteor" pizza, topped with pepperoni, sausage, meatballs, ground beef and smoky bacon, when he called up at the weekend.
"It's a disgrace, I can appreciate them having it as an option but to have it completely halal is just not on."
Halal items on the menu include halal spicy beef sausage, roast and tandoori chicken, halal pepperoni and halal cured turkey all produced and stored within the Halal Food Authorities guidelines.
A spokesman for Domino's, who recently announced profits were up 33 per cent, said: "In that particular area of Birmingham there are a large number of Muslims so there is naturally more of a demand for halal based products.
"We appreciate we cannot please everybody but there are alternatives, such as turkey ham, and we have thought long and hard about this decision and we are sure it is the right one."
Stupid decision IMO, but the company is a delivery company.
You dont actually go to get the pizza, so the 2 miles thing is a bit moot. The only real change may be the phone number needed to order.
As I said, bad decision though.
They could have sold Halal meat AND the original meat side by side.
Restaurant serving things they think their customer wants to buy shocker?
Oh, must be The Sun.
A quick business search on yell.com shows five other pizza takeaways in a one mile radius of this one. Anyone doesn’t like what they’re selling they can go elsewhere. If the restaurant has made an unpopular move, they lose money.
AND the Telegraph
AND the Daily Mail.
And....
First halal only Dominos opens Express & Star
Daily Star Simply The Best 7 Days A Week News Outrage at 'Muslim only' Domino's pizza
Domino's pizza defends halal-only outlet - News, Food & Drink - The Independent
Domino's Pizza bans pork to offer Halal only Metro.co.uk
and about 20 others at the moment.
It's something that would certainly pass unnoticed by everyone if it were only a matter of a "Restaurant serving things they think their customer wants to buy" but it's only being noted by numerous established, non-tabloid news sources because of the muslim angle to the story, which of course you're welcome to dismiss as irrelevant if you like.
That's very interesting, and thank you for the link. One part of that linked page especially caught my eye:
In the US, there are Halal stores already open that are doing great business and are very popular.
I looked at the US Subway site, and there isn't any mention of their halal stores anywhere! So it seems it's at least as much if not more of a 'stealth' operation here as in the UK.
(Welcome to FR by the way :-))
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