How the Nation Lost Its Taste for Pizza Hut
Once, the popular pizza chain was the favorite for parents and children to enjoy its all-you-can-eat buffet, help-yourself greens station, and self-serve ice-cream.
However not as many diners are choosing the chain these days, and it is reducing a significant portion of its UK outlets after being acquired following financial trouble for the second time this calendar year.
I remember going Pizza Hut when I was a child,” notes a young adult. “It was a tradition, you'd go on a Sunday – turn it into an event.” But now, as a young adult, she says “it's not a thing anymore.”
According to a diner in her twenties, the very elements Pizza Hut has been known and loved for since it launched in the UK in the mid-20th century are now less appealing.
“The way they do their buffet and their salad bar, it feels like they are lowering standards and have inferior offerings... They provide so much food and you're like ‘How can they?’”
As food prices have increased significantly, Pizza Hut's unlimited dining format has become quite costly to maintain. Similarly, its restaurants, which are being reduced from 132 to 64.
The business, similar to other firms, has also seen its expenses rise. Earlier this year, employee wages increased due to rises in minimum wages and an rise in employer taxes.
A couple in their thirties and twenties mention they would often visit at Pizza Hut for a date “every now and then”, but now they get delivery from another pizza brand and think Pizza Hut is “too expensive”.
Based on your order, Pizza Hut and Domino's rates are comparable, explains a culinary author.
Even though Pizza Hut has off-premise options through delivery platforms, it is falling behind to major competitors which specialize to off-premise dining.
“The rival chain has succeeded in leading the off-premise pizza industry thanks to intensive advertising and constantly running deals that make customers feel like they're saving money, when in reality the standard rates are quite high,” notes the specialist.
But for the couple it is justified to get their date night delivered to their door.
“We predominantly have meals at home now more than we eat out,” says one of the diners, echoing current figures that show a drop in people frequenting casual and fast-food restaurants.
In the warmer season, informal dining venues saw a 6% drop in patrons compared to the year before.
Moreover, one more competitor to ordered-in pies: the frozen or fresh pizza.
An industry leader, global lead for leisure at a leading firm, notes that not only have retailers been providing premium oven-ready pizzas for years – some are even promoting pizza-making appliances.
“Lifestyle changes are also having an impact in the success of casual eateries,” states the expert.
The increased interest of low-carb regimens has boosted sales at poultry outlets, while affecting sales of dough-based meals, he notes.
As people dine out less frequently, they may look for a more premium experience, and Pizza Hut's American-diner style with vinyl benches and traditional décor can feel more dated than upmarket.
The “explosion of artisanal pizza places” over the last decade and a half, such as popular brands, has “dramatically shifted the public's perception of what good pizza is,” explains the industry commentator.
“A crisp, airy, digestible pizza with a select ingredients, not the overly oily, dense and piled-high pizzas of the past. That, I think, is what's led to Pizza Hut's struggles,” she says.
“Why would anyone spend a high price on a modest, low-quality, underwhelming pizza from a chain when you can get a gorgeous, skillfully prepared classic pizza for under a tenner at one of the many authentic Italian pizzerias around the country?
“The decision is simple.”
A mobile pizza vendor, who owns a pizza van based in Suffolk explains: “The issue isn’t that stopped liking pizza – they just want improved value.”
The owner says his mobile setup can offer premium pizza at accessible prices, and that Pizza Hut had difficulty because it failed to adapt with changing preferences.
According to a small pizza brand in Bristol, the founder says the industry is broadening but Pizza Hut has failed to offer anything new.
“You now have slice concepts, regional varieties, New Haven-style, sourdough, wood-fired, Detroit – it's a heavenly minefield for a pizza enthusiast to explore.”
The owner says Pizza Hut “must rebrand” as the youth don't have any sense of nostalgia or loyalty to the company.
In recent years, Pizza Hut's customer base has been sliced up and allocated to its fresher, faster rivals. To maintain its costly operations, it would have to charge more – which industry analysts say is challenging at a time when family finances are decreasing.
The managing director of Pizza Hut's overseas branches said the rescue aimed “to ensure our customer service and save employment where possible”.
He said its key goal was to continue operating at the open outlets and takeaway hubs and to support colleagues through the transition.
Yet with large sums going into operating its locations, it probably cannot to spend heavily in its off-premise division because the industry is “difficult and working with existing third-party platforms comes at a price”, experts say.
However, it's noted, cutting its costs by exiting crowded locations could be a smart move to adjust.
