Domino’s Will Be Using Drones To Deliver Pizza By The End Of The Year

Sometimes technology isn’t all bad. Now, in select Domino’s locations around the world, your pizza will be delivered by drone. The pizza company aims to have drone delivery service by the end of this year, thanks to a new partnership.

Earlier this month, the startup Flirtey and Domino’s Pizza Enterprises (which operates restaurants in Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, France, The Netherlands, Japan and Germany) unveiled the first commercial model for pizza delivery by drone.

A location in New Zealand will start using drones to deliver pizzas later this year, and there are plans to begin using the drones at more of Domino’s Pizza Enterprises’ 2,000 locations in the future.

The delivery drone is made of carbon fiber and aluminum, and features functions such as the ability to automatically return to the Domino’s location if it loses its GPS signal.

While pizza-delivering drones may not be on the top of the must-solve issues the world is facing, it’s clear that the intersection of tech and food is stronger than ever. In fact, according to Business Insider, about half of sales at at Domino’s, Pizza Hut and Papa John’s US shops come from digital channels.

Though all of this is exciting, there’s a more important question to ponder: Does this mean the end of awkward pizza-delivery tipping?