🔗 Share this article

In the past, the popular pizza chain was the favorite for families and friends to feast on its all-you-can-eat buffet, help-yourself greens station, and make-your-own dessert.

However not as many customers are choosing the brand these days, and it is shutting down half of its British restaurants after being bought out of administration for the second occasion this year.

I remember going Pizza Hut when I was a child,” explains Prudence. “It was like a family thing, you'd go on a Sunday – make a day of it.” However, at present, as a young adult, she states “it's no longer popular.”

For young customer Martina, some of the very things Pizza Hut has been famous for since it started in the UK in the mid-20th century are now outdated.

“The manner in which they do their all-you-can-eat and their salad station, it feels like they are cutting corners and have reduced quality... They offer so much food and you're like ‘How is that possible?’”

As food prices have soared, Pizza Hut's unlimited dining format has become quite costly to maintain. Similarly, its outlets, which are being reduced from 132 to just over 60.

The company, similar to other firms, has also seen its costs rise. In April this year, staffing costs jumped due to increases in the legal wage floor and an increase in employer national insurance contributions.

Chris, 36, and Joanne, 29 explain they used to go at Pizza Hut for a date “every now and then”, but now they choose a rival chain and think Pizza Hut is “very overpriced”.

Based on your choices, Pizza Hut and Domino's costs are comparable, explains a food expert.

Even though Pizza Hut does offer off-premise options through external services, it is missing out to major competitors which solely cater to this market.

“The rival chain has managed to dominate the takeaway pizza sector thanks to intensive advertising and frequent offers that make shoppers feel like they're getting a bargain, when in reality the original prices are relatively expensive,” notes the expert.

However for these customers it is acceptable to get their evening together delivered to their door.

“We absolutely dine at home now instead of we eat out,” comments Joanne, echoing latest data that show a decrease in people frequenting quick-service eateries.

During the summer months, quick-service eateries saw a 6% drop in customers compared to the year before.

There is also one more competitor to restaurant and takeaway pizzas: the cook-at-home oven pizza.

An industry leader, senior partner at a major consultancy, explains that not only have grocery stores been providing high-quality oven-ready pizzas for a long time – some are even selling pizza-making appliances.

“Lifestyle changes are also playing a factor in the performance of quick-service brands,” says Mr. Hawkley.

The rising popularity of low-carb regimens has driven sales at poultry outlets, while reducing sales of carb-heavy pizza, he continues.

Since people dine out less frequently, they may seek out a more premium experience, and Pizza Hut's American-diner style with booth seating and red and white checked plastic table cloths can feel more old-fashioned than luxurious.

The growth of artisanal pizza places” over the last decade and a half, including boutique chains, has “dramatically shifted the public's perception of what quality pizza is,” explains the food expert.

“A thin, flavorful, gentle crust with a few choice toppings, not the massively greasy, heavy and overloaded pizzas of the past. That, arguably, is what's caused Pizza Hut's decline,” she comments.

“Why would anyone spend nearly eighteen pounds on a small, substandard, disappointing pizza from a chain when you can get a stunning, expertly crafted traditional pie for a lower price at one of the many real Italian restaurants around the country?

“It's an easy choice.”

A mobile pizza vendor, who owns Smokey Deez based in Suffolk explains: “People haven’t lost interest in pizza – they just want better pizza for their money.”

He 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, owner Jack Lander says the pizza market is diversifying but Pizza Hut has neglected to introduce anything new.

“There are now individual slices, London pizza, new haven, artisan base, Neapolitan, deep-dish – it's a wonderful array for a pizza-loving consumer to try.”

Jack says Pizza Hut “needs to reinvent itself” as younger people don't have any emotional connection or attachment to the chain.

In recent years, Pizza Hut's customer base has been divided and spread to its more modern, agile rivals. To sustain its costly operations, it would have to charge more – which commentators say is challenging at a time when family finances are tightening.

A senior executive of Pizza Hut's global operations said the buyout aimed “to safeguard our customer service and retain staff where possible”.

He said its key goal was to maintain service at the open outlets and takeaway hubs and to help employees through the change.

But with so much money going into running its restaurants, it likely can't afford to allocate significant resources in its off-premise division because the sector is “complicated and working with existing external services comes at a cost”, experts say.

Still, experts suggest, reducing expenses by withdrawing from competitive urban areas could be a effective strategy to adapt.