How the Country Turned Away from Its Craving for the Pizza Hut Chain

Once, the popular pizza chain was the favorite for families and friends to feast on its unlimited dining experience, unlimited salad bar, and self-serve ice-cream.

Yet a declining number of diners are frequenting the restaurant nowadays, and it is reducing a significant portion of its UK restaurants after being rescued from insolvency for the second instance this year.

I remember going Pizza Hut when I was a child,” explains one London shopper. “It was a regular outing, you'd go on a Sunday – make a day of it.” But now, as a young adult, she states “it's not a thing anymore.”

In the view of a diner in her twenties, the very elements Pizza Hut has been known and loved for since it opened in the UK in the 1970s are now not-so-hot.

“How they do their all-you-can-eat and their salad bar, it feels like they are cheapening on their quality and have inferior offerings... They provide so much food and you're like ‘How can they?’”

As grocery costs have increased significantly, Pizza Hut's unlimited dining format has become quite costly to operate. The same goes for its outlets, which are being reduced from over 130 to 64.

The chain, like many others, has also experienced its expenses go up. This spring, labor expenses rose due to rises in minimum wages and an increase in employer taxes.

Two diners explain they would often visit at Pizza Hut for a date “occasionally”, but now they order in Domino's and think Pizza Hut is “too expensive”.

Based on your selection, Pizza Hut and Domino's costs are similar, explains a culinary author.

While Pizza Hut has takeaway and deliveries through delivery platforms, it is missing out to big rivals which specialize to the delivery sector.

“Another pizza company has taken over the off-premise pizza industry thanks to intensive advertising and constantly running deals that make consumers feel like they're finding a good deal, when in reality the base costs are relatively expensive,” notes the analyst.

But for the couple it is acceptable to get their special meal brought to their home.

“We absolutely dine at home now more than we eat out,” explains one of the diners, matching recent statistics that show a drop in people going to casual and fast-food restaurants.

Over the summer, informal dining venues saw a 6% drop in customers compared to the previous year.

Additionally, another rival to ordered-in pies: the frozen or fresh pizza.

Will Hawkley, senior partner at a leading firm, explains that not only have grocery stores been selling high-quality ready-to-bake pizzas for quite a while – some are even promoting countertop ovens.

“Evolving preferences are also playing a factor in the popularity of quick-service brands,” comments the analyst.

The rising popularity of protein-rich eating plans has increased sales at poultry outlets, while reducing sales of high-carbohydrate options, he notes.

As people visit restaurants less frequently, they may prefer a more high-quality meal, and Pizza Hut's classic look with booth seating and red and white checked plastic table cloths can feel more dated than luxurious.

The rise of high-quality pizzerias” over the last 10 to 15 years, for example popular brands, has “fundamentally changed the general opinion of what excellent pie is,” explains the culinary analyst.

“A crisp, airy, digestible pizza with a carefully curated additions, not the overly oily, dense and piled-high pizzas of the past. This, in my view, is what's caused Pizza Hut's struggles,” she says.

“What person would spend £17.99 on a tiny, mediocre, unsatisfying pizza from a large brand when you can get a stunning, expertly crafted traditional pie for a lower price at one of the many authentic Italian pizzerias around the country?

“It's a no-brainer.”

An independent operator, who runs a pizza van based in Suffolk explains: “People haven’t fallen out of love with pizza – they just want improved value.”

Dan says his mobile setup can offer gourmet pizza at reasonable rates, and that Pizza Hut faced challenges because it could not keep up with evolving tastes.

According to Pizzarova in a city in southwest England, the founder says the pizza market is broadening but Pizza Hut has neglected to introduce anything new.

“There are now individual slices, artisanal styles, New Haven-style, fermented dough, Neapolitan, Detroit – it's a wonderful array for a pizza enthusiast to try.”

He says Pizza Hut “needs to reinvent itself” as newer generations don't have any emotional connection or attachment to the company.

Gradually, Pizza Hut's customer base has been divided and distributed to its trendier, more nimble rivals. To maintain its expensive staffing and restaurants, it would have to increase costs – which experts say is challenging at a time when personal spending are shrinking.

The managing director of Pizza Hut's global operations said the buyout aimed “to safeguard our guest experience and save employment where possible”.

He said its key goal was to maintain service at the surviving locations and off-premise points and to assist staff through the restructure.

Yet with large sums going into maintaining its outlets, it likely can't afford to invest too much in its takeaway operation because the market is “complicated and partnering with existing third-party platforms comes at a expense”, experts say.

However, it's noted, cutting its costs by withdrawing from crowded locations could be a smart move to adjust.