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| Company type | Subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. |
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| Industry | Food Wholesale |
| Founded | Wichita, Kansas, USA (1958) |
| Headquarters | Addison, Texas, USA |
Key people | Dan and Frank Carney (founders) David C. Novak (CEO) |
| Products | Pizza, Pasta |
Number of employees | 300,000+ |
| Website | pizzahut.com |
Pizza Hut is a restaurant chain and international franchise based in Addison, Texas, USA (a northern suburb of Dallas) specializing in American-style pizza along with side dishes including (depending on location) buffalo wings, breadsticks, and garlic bread. Pizza Hut is the world's largest pizza restaurant chain and is part of the YUM! group of restaurants. YUM! brand restaurants total approximately 34,000 restaurants, delivery-carry out units, and kiosks in 100 countries.[1].
Pizza Hut was founded as a pizzeriain1958 by the Carney brothers - Dan and Frank. Borrowing $600 from their mother, the University of Wichita college students took a family pizza recipe and opened the first restaurant at a busy intersection in Wichita, Kansas[2]. Additional restaurants were opened, with the first franchise unit opening in 1959inTopeka, Kansas. By 1964 a unique standardized building appearance and layout was established for franchised and company-owned stores, in order to have a universal and familiar look for customers to recognize. By 1970, with 310 stores nationwide, Pizza Hut went public on the New York Stock Exchange under the stock ticker symbol PIZ. In 1977, Pizza Hut was acquired by Pepsico, along with KFC and Taco Bell, and in 1997, the three restaurant chains were spun off and joined with Long John Silver's and A&W Restaurants to become YUM! Brands.
The most commonly sold food at the restaurants is the "Pan Pizza", which usually comes in four different sizes including Personal Pan (which is an individual serving), Small, Medium, and Large, although some stores have done away with the small size. They come in a variety of toppings, including "specialty" styles. Pan Pizza has a thicker crust than most other commercially available pizzas. Unlike most of Pizza Hut's competitors (such as Domino's deep dish or Papa John's Perfect Pan), Pizza Hut does not charge extra for its pan pizza.
In addition to the Pan Pizza, Pizza Hut also sells "Stuffed Crust" (with the outermost edge wrapped around a coil of mozzarella cheese); "Hand-Tossed" (which is more like traditional pizzeria crusts); "Thin 'N Crispy" (a thin and crispy dough which was the original crust); "Bigfoot", which is a two-foot by one-foot square cut pizza; and the Dippin' Strips pizza, which is similar to a Sicilian pizza but is cut into small strips that can be dipped into a number of sauces. Another is the "Edge" pizza, where the pizza is baked with no puffy crust, and the toppings reach nearly to the edge of the pie.
Pizza Hut has experimented with new products frequently. Less successful ones have been discontinued. These include Chicago Dish Pizza and Sicilian pizza; the Sicilian Pizza made a 2006 comeback as the Lassana Pizza. Other products Pizza Hut have offered are the "P'zone", Pizza Hut's version of the calzone; the "Cheesy Bites", similar to the "Stuffed Crust" except the crust has been divided into bite-sized pieces that can be pulled apart; and the "Insider", where a layer of cheese is in between two layers of dough.
Pizza Hut also has a number of side dishes including bread sticks, cheese sticks, cinnamon sticks, mozzarella sticks, onion rings, hot and mild chicken wings, boneless wings, chicken munchers, jalapeño poppers, and garlic bread.
Depending on the size, Pizza Huts also may offer pasta dinners such as Spaghetti and Cavatini - a mixture of Cavatelli (shells), Rotini (spirals), and Rotelle (wheels). They often come with a side of garlic bread. Some Pizza Huts also serve lunch and dinner buffets with numerous types of pizza, breadsticks and pastas, as well as a salad bar.
A new, upscale concept was unveiled in 2005, called "Pizza Hut Italian Bistro". The concept, unveiled at fifty locations nationwide, is similar to a traditional Pizza Hut, except that new pasta dishes are offered, such as penne pasta, chicken pomodoro; toasted sandwiches and other foods are also offered.[3] Instead of black, white, and red, Bistro locations feature a burgundy and tan motif.[4] Pizza Hut Bistros still serve the chain's traditional pizzas and sides, as well.
Pizza Hut restaurants are located throughout the world. Based on their location and the culture of the people, Pizza Hut often offers different menu choices in these countries than in the United States and Canada.
The menu has recently been simplified, there are now only five types of bases available, Pan Pizza, "The Italian" (A more traditional style pizza), "The Edge" (A really thin base with no crusts, cut into 16 squares, rather than traditional slices), stuffed crust, and the "Thick and Thin" (a medium sized pizza, half Grand Pan and half Edge).
In addition the menu offers a buffet; all you can eat "under terms and conditions"[specify], for pizza only or for a combination of pizza, pasta, and salad.
InAustralia, Pizza Hut has followed a different model—after an initial attempt to introduce Pizza Hut restaurants as in the United States and the United Kingdom, Australian Pizza Huts now generally operate as take away and delivery operations with all orders processed by two major call centers located in Brisbane and Sydney. Originally, Australian Pizza Huts were full service sit-down restaurants, but were scaled back due to increased competition from other fast food chains. Australian Pizza Hut restaurants currently compete with Domino's, Pizza Haven, Eagle Boys and various other pizza stores. The situation has been similar for the brand in neighboring country New Zealand where all orders (except ones made instore) are processed by a call centre in Auckland. New Zealand is the only country in the world where Pizza Hut serves chips (french fries in the US). In Australia, soya oil is used instead of vegetable oil for all pizzas, and barbecue sauce is available as an alternative to tomato sauce as a topping base.
Pizza Hut offers in Greece a variety of choices based on the local tastes, such as 'Greek Lover's pizza' and 'Cyprus Lover's pizza' with the first having feta cheese and the latter halloumi cheese among other ingredients.
Pizza Hut is one of the most popular fast food outlets in Bangladesh. Currently there are two outlets, one in Dhaka which is situated at Gulshan-1 and the other at Chittagong. Another 2/3 outlets are set to start operations soon. All foods served in the outlets in Bangladesh are halal.
Pizza Hut in Sri Lanka is one of the first variety chain stores in the country. Currently Pizza Hut offers an online ordering system which delivers to the following outlets: Colombo, Negombo, Kandy, Kiribathgoda, Kotahena, Colpetty, Union Place, Rajagiriya, Havelock Rd., Malabe, Dehiwala, Nugegoda, Thalawathugoda, Moratuwa, Maharagama and Wattala.
InMalaysia, Pizza Hut offers toppings that do not contain pork to comply with the Muslim majority; instead, substitutions made with chickenorturkey are used. There are also different toppings that reflects the country's cuisine, for example, satay.
In 1981, Pizza Hut opened its 1st restaurant in Singapore at Jalan Jelita. There are currently more than 37 dine-in outlets in Singapore.
Pizza Hut came to Indiain1996 with a dine-in restaurant in Bangalore, that had special vegetarian pizzas. In addition to traditional toppings, it incorporates Indian favorite foods such as Chicken tikkas, Lamb korma and other dishes, in its list of innovative toppings. Along with pizzas, the menu features appetizers such as garlic bread and soups, fresh salads, oven-baked pastas and choice of ice-cream sundaes. They have some American and Italian foods other than just Indian foods. They have pepperoni pizzas as well as cheese and the like. They have different types of meal orders such as the Four Course Menu. In the Four Course Menu you can get garlic bread (with or without cheese), a small bowl of soup (mushroomortomato basil), a small personal pan and a desert of mango ice cream.
Pizza Hut now has a presence in many major Indian cities such as Bangalore, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Udaipur, Lucknow, New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Kanpur,Chennai, Pune, Surat, Puducherry, Coimbatore, Amritsar, Cochin, Agra, Hyderabad (with multiple branches in many of those cities), Ahmedabad,Indore,Mangalore,Mysore,Visakhapatnam and Bhubaneswar.
InIsrael, Pizza Hut is kosher in order to accommodate Jewish law. Everywhere else in the world, Pizza Hut pizza is not certified as Kosher.
The popular slogan there is:
The first Pizza Hut in Hong Kong was opened in 1981, in the basement of The Landmark (demolished in 2000 with the Landmark East portion of the complex). It currently has 54 restaurants over Hong Kong, 34 being "express" restaurants and 20 being full service restaurants[5]
"Pizza Hut Hong Kong" is notable for its menu with half of the pizza selections that are thousand island sauce based. Also, along with pizza, pasta, lasagne and baked rice are equally emphasised in Hong Kong's Pizza Hut outlets.
Recently, many Pizza Hut restaurants have opened throughout Austria, most notably in Teesdorf.
The first Pizza Hut in Mainland China was the restaurant at DongzhimeninBeijing, opened on December 1 1990. As of 2005 there are nearly 200 restaurants in more than 50 cities, such as almost all the provincial capitals and large cities such as Shanghai, Tianjin, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Wuhan and Changsha. In China, Pizza Hut is marketed as a dine-in restaurant, serving sangria and escargot as well as the traditional pizza (including traditional toppings and others like tuna).
InOctober 2003, Belgrade got its first Pizza Hut restaurant. The restaurant is situated in Makedonska Street 44 in the heart of Belgrade. This Pizza Hut offers pizzas, pastas, salads and starters, as well as coffee, cakes, and ice cream. Since the beginning of 2004, Pizza Hut has offered Take–Away as a new service.
Pizza Hut was and is a big hit in Egypt. It was one of the first fast food chains that opened in Egypt, after KFC & Wimpy and before McDonald's. It now has many outlets all over the country. Pizza Hut serves Pan Pizza, Thin n' Crispy and Stuffed Crust, with all the basic toppings, however no pork, ham nor bacon are available to please the Muslim majority. Pasta, salads and desserts were introduced in 2005. Before that Pizza Hut was only known for its pizzas, with few other choices. That was changed as a result of heavy competition with other pizza chains, both local and international.
The first Pizza Hut outlet was opened in the capital Sofia near the National Football Stadium in June 1995. It became a hit and now there are more than 10 outlets in Bulgaria. Since 1996 Pizza Hut use a Take Away service.
There are some Pizza Hut in São Paulo and another cities.
Pizza Hut's main advertising slogan is "Gather 'round the good stuff".Pizza Hut does not have an official international mascot, but at one time, there were commercials in the United States called 'The Pizza Head Show.' These commercials ran from 1993-1997 and were based loosely on the Mr. Bill shorts from Saturday Night Live in the 1970s. The ads featured a slice of pizza with a face made out of toppings called 'Pizza Head'. In Australia during the Mid to late 1990s, the advertising mascot was a delivery boy named Dougie, with boyish good looks who, upon delivering pizza to his father, would hear the catchphrase "Here's a tip, be good to your mother".
In 1994, Donald Trump and ex-wife Marla Maples-Trump starred in a commercial. The ending of the commercial showed Maples-Trump asking for the last slice, to which Donald replied, "Actually dear, you're only entitled to half", a play on the couple's recent divorce.
In 1995, Ringo Starr starred in a Pizza Hut commercial which also featured The Monkees. Rush Limbaugh also starred in a Pizza Hut commercial the same year.
In 1997, former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev starred in a Pizza Hut commercial to raise money for the Perestroyka Archives. In recent years, Pizza Hut has had various celebrity spokespeople, including Jessica Simpson, the Muppets, and Damon Hill and Murray Walker. Recent commercials have Queen Latifah providing the voiceover.
In the United Kingdom, talk show host Jonathan Ross co-starred in the advert with American model Caprice. They were used to advertise the stuffed crust pizza, with Jonathan Ross saying "Stuffed Cwust", to which is a play on Jonathan's pronunciation of 'R's.
The 1990 NES game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game, came with a coupon for a free pizza. The game was filled with Pizza Hut advertising and pizza that would refill the character's life.
Pizza Hut sponsored the first space pizza delivery in 2001, and paid for their logo to appear on a Russian Proton rocket in 2000.[6]
In Australia and New Zealand, 2006 saw the introduction of a mascot in Pizza Hut's advertising - "Pizza Mutt", a small dog who delivers pizzas.
Early 2007 saw Pizza Hut move into several more interactive ways of marketing to the consumer. Utilizing mobile phone SMS technology and their MyHut ordering site, they aired several television commercials (commencing just before the Super Bowl) containing hidden words that viewers could type into their phones to receive coupons. Other innovative efforts included their "MySpace Ted" campaign, which took advantage of the popularity of social networking, and the burgeoning user-submission marketing movement via their Vice President of Pizza contest.
Pizza Hut has been a longtime sponsor of the "Book It!" program, which encourages reading in American schools. Those who read books according to the goal set by the classroom teacher are rewarded with Pizza Hut coupons offering free or discounted menu items. In the late 1980s, Pizza Hut threw free pizza parties for classes if all students met their reading goals. The program has received criticism[7] from some child development specialists, on grounds that the food and educational message provided to children is more harmful than helpful.
In more recent history, Pizza Hut's delivery drivers have been organizing into unions [1]. These drivers cite conditions as 'deplorable' with the average US driver getting paid $0.50(USD) per delivery (while Pizza Hut, on average, charges the customer $1.50(USD) per delivery), compared to a national average elsewhere of $1.25 per delivery [2]. Such unions include SEIU and APDD. In addition to wages, many Pizza Hut drivers have safety and job security concerns. As of October 2006 no union has successfully recruited in any company-owned Pizza Hut restaurants.
InNew Zealand, Pizza Hut (managed by Restaurant Brands) along with other fast food companies is facing union pressure from Supersizemypay.com and the Unite Union to improve wage conditions and give workers secure hours.
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