Not content with ordinary bi-pedal delivery guys, Domino’s Pizza in Japan is training new charges to heft its pizzas across the cold climes of the country’s northernmost island Hokkaido this Christmas—reindeer.
While a reindeer delivery service may seem a concept lifted straight out of a Hayao Miyazaki film, it appears that Domino’s is very serious about the idea.
The company didn’t immediately respond to Coins2Day’s request for comment but a press release (in Japanese) issued on Nov. 17 said that Domino’s is working with reindeer breeders at the Hokkaido Delivery Integrated Research Center to prepare for extremely cold conditions this winter. A “full-scale” reindeer roll out is expected in December.
An update, released Thursday, said that each reindeer would be fitted with its own “GPS driver tracker” so that its progress could be tracked in real time.
Dominos has even produced a detailed “action plan” replete with images of a Domino’s branded container perched atop one of the antlered beasts, Quartz reports.
Domino's Japan is now using reindeer to deliver warm pizza in cold weather pic.twitter.com/Yhp85XXJU7
— Brian Sozzi (@BrianSozzi) November 22, 2016
Winter is set to be “particularly cold” in Japan this year according to various weather agencies. On Thursday snow fell in the capital Tokyo for the first time in November in 54 years, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reports. Hokkaido winters are far colder, however, with the temperature frequently dipping below 20 ° F.
For more on drone deliveries, watch Coins2Day’s video:
Last month Domino’s Pizza Enterprises—an international franchiser of the Domino’s Pizza brand—conducted a demonstration of pizza delivery by drone in New Zealand and stated its intent to be the world’s first company to launch regular drone delivery.
Whether reindeer will be more effective at navigating snow-blocked roads to ferry pizzas to Hokkaido residents remains to be seen—but they’re a whole lot more adorable.