Dodo Pizza, a thousand-store pizza chain that’s built a name for itself by experimenting with different types of technology, announced last week that it was trialing a new “In-App Flavor Generator” powered by ChatGPT. The new generator, which is only available for now in the Dubai market, allows customers to create personalized pizza flavors from 35 different ingredients.
Here’s how it works: The app’s flavor generator, which uses generative AI technology, presents users with a choice of ingredients, all of which can be combined in different ways, which Dodo says can result in up to 30 million potential flavor combinations. This feature is designed to cater to individual preferences and moods, enabling customers to experiment with unique pizza creations.
For the launch, Dodo Pizza expanded its ingredient list with 17 new items, including some pretty weird flavors like popcorn, duck, guacamole, melon, fruit loops, falafel, and pumpkin seeds. The app’s interface queries the user’s mood and preferences, with options like “movie night,” and from there, users can customize their pizzas by specifying dietary restrictions or ingredient exclusions, such as vegetarian-only options or the omission of onions, pineapple, or spices.
The company, which was founded in Russia and originally grew to become Russia’s biggest pizza chain (but now is headquartered in Dubai), recently brought on a new CEO in Alena Tikhova, while company founder Fyodor Ovchinnikov has moved into the executive chairman role. Under Ovchinnikov, the company gained a reputation for embracing technology early on (Dodo was the first pizza chain to experiment with drone delivery), and this latest move continues that trend.
According to Dodo, early trials have piqued customer curiosity. The company says the AI “pizza card” generates about three times the clicks of other menu positions. Dodo says they plan to roll out the AI pizza generator in other regions this year, including Southeast Asia and Africa.
