Global pizza brands battle for Russia's far-flung regions

Moscow

GLOBAL pizza brands Domino's and Papa John's are preparing an assault on Russia's provinces, betting that they can turn a profit far from Moscow as online card payments become more widespread and consumers get to know foreign brands better.

While stay-at-home Muscovites can order an array of international pizza brands from Sbarro to Domino's to Papa John's, regional cities such as Rostov-on-Don and Nizhny Novgorod are still chiefly the preserve of small local chains.

Multiple challenges have kept global fast food brands wedded to major Russian cities, including patchy transport links, bureaucratic delays, finding an army of chefs who can maintain quality, as well as the sheer cost of shipping often perishable ingredients across a vast country t…