Pizza Hut - Back In The Zone

Interesting news this week on Pizza Hut's UK operations getting back into the swing of things with a nationwide training programme in all its restaurants, which happened yesterday 19th July.

Check out The Grocer article here: https://www.thegrocer.co.uk/news/pizza-hut-uk-launches-nationwide-restaurant-training-programme/721256.article

Why are a hospitality business telling us this when it should 'just happen' as part of general operations? Well, Pizza Hut hasn't been doing very well.

Last year half it's UK restaurants were closed when the UK franchisee went pop. Yum Brands, the US owner, had to step in and run the remaining outlets. However, they were under pressure themselves due to underperformance in US and global markets, with a sell-off currently in process.

How does such a huge, global brand with some of the highest recognition stats in casual dining get to this stage? By not evolving the offer fast enough and taking the eye off the ball in terms of the restaurant experience.

We saw the rot set in a decade ago with poorly managed restaurants that were untidy, service standards and training were poor, and a menu which didn't change frequently enough. Operationally we felt it was bad timing on Pizza Hut's part to expand the Delivery outlets just at the time when everyone else was adopting restaurants to do dine-in and delivery.

So this news is important. It shows they care again about the customer experience and are willing to sacrifice opening time to make sure standards improve. This is great - we can't wait to see better food innovation coming out of Pizza Hut.

Brands, however big, can not stop evolving. Menus, brand positioning, dining experience. The odd poor decision can be overcome - fail fast is the mantra of many a successful food business.

We can help you get to grips with the pace the food industry works at, ensuring you stay true to your brands roots. Come and have a chat with us about coaching you and your team to deliver success.