Domino's Pizza, the world's second-largest franchised pizza chain, has successfully carried out (no pun intended) the world's first commercial delivery of food by drone to a customer.
Chipotle Mexican Grill teamed up with Google's Project Wing drone delivery service a couple of months back to deliver burritos on the campus of Virginia Tech although that was more of an experiment than anything else.
Domino's joined forces with drone delivery service Flirtey to deliver its first order, a peri-peri chicken pizza as well as a chicken and cranberry pizza (what an odd combination) to a customer in Whangaparaoa, roughly 25km north of Auckland in New Zealand.
Domino's says the Flirtey DRU Drone, which was controlled autonomously via GPS, was overseen by a team of aerial drone experts as well as a qualified and experienced pilot. The historic flight came following a number of operational and product trials, said Don Meij, Domino's Group GEO and managing director.
The executive said they invested in the technology and partnership with Flirtey because they believe drone delivery will be an essential component of their pizza deliveries, allowing even more customers to receive the freshest, hottest pizza they can offer.
Few would argue that aerial drones have a bright future ahead although the capacity in which they'll be utilized isn't yet clear as legal red tape continues to curb innovation.