🔗 Share this article

At one time, the popular pizza chain was the favorite for families and friends to enjoy its all-you-can-eat buffet, unlimited salad bar, and ice cream with toppings.

Yet not as many customers are visiting the brand nowadays, and it is closing 50% of its UK restaurants after being acquired following financial trouble for the second time this calendar year.

It was common to visit Pizza Hut when I was a child,” explains one London shopper. “It was a tradition, you'd go on a Sunday – turn it into an event.” However, at present, as a young adult, she states “it's no longer popular.”

For a diner in her twenties, some of the very things Pizza Hut has been known and loved for since it launched in the UK in the 1970s are now outdated.

“The way they do their buffet and their salad station, it appears that they are cheapening on their quality and have reduced quality... They provide so much food and you're like ‘How can they?’”

Because food prices have increased significantly, Pizza Hut's all-you-can-eat model has become very expensive to maintain. The same goes for its locations, which are being sliced from over 130 to just over 60.

The company, like many others, has also faced its expenses go up. In April this year, staffing costs rose due to rises in minimum wages and an increase in employer national insurance contributions.

Chris, 36, and Joanne, 29 say 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 “not good value”.

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

Even though Pizza Hut does offer takeaway and deliveries through third-party apps, it is losing out to larger chains which specialize to the delivery sector.

“The rival chain has succeeded in leading the off-premise pizza industry thanks to aggressive marketing and ongoing discounts that make consumers feel like they're finding a good deal, when in reality the original prices are quite high,” says the expert.

Yet for the couple it is justified to get their special meal sent directly.

“We predominantly have meals at home now instead of we eat out,” says one of the diners, matching latest data that show a decline in people frequenting quick-service eateries.

During the summer months, informal dining venues saw a 6% drop in patrons compared to the previous year.

There is also a further alternative to restaurant and takeaway pizzas: the supermarket pizza.

An industry leader, senior partner at an advisory group, notes that not only have supermarkets been providing good-standard oven-ready pizzas for quite a while – some are even selling home-pizza ovens.

“Shifts in habits are also playing a factor in the popularity of fast-food chains,” states the analyst.

The growing trend of protein-rich eating plans has driven sales at poultry outlets, while reducing sales of carb-heavy pizza, he continues.

As people go out to eat more rarely, they may prefer a more premium experience, and Pizza Hut's retro theme with comfortable booths and traditional décor can feel more dated than upmarket.

The growth of high-quality pizzerias” over the last several years, including boutique chains, has “completely altered the general opinion of what quality pizza is,” says the industry commentator.

“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 led to Pizza Hut's struggles,” she comments.

“Who would choose to spend a high price on a small, substandard, disappointing pizza from a franchise when you can get a beautiful, masterfully-made classic pizza for under a tenner at one of the many authentic Italian pizzerias around the country?

“It's a no-brainer.”

A mobile pizza vendor, who operates a small business based in a regional area says: “People haven’t fallen out of love with pizza – they just want higher quality at a fair price.”

He says his adaptable business can offer premium pizza at affordable costs, and that Pizza Hut had difficulty because it could not keep up with new customer habits.

At a small pizza brand in Bristol, the proprietor says the sector is expanding but Pizza Hut has not provided anything innovative.

“There are now individual slices, artisanal styles, New Haven-style, artisan base, Neapolitan, Detroit – it's a heavenly minefield for a pie fan to explore.”

Jack says Pizza Hut “must rebrand” as younger people don't have any sense of nostalgia or allegiance to the chain.

Over time, Pizza Hut's share has been fragmented and distributed to its trendier, more nimble alternatives. To keep up its costly operations, it would have to increase costs – which industry analysts say is tough at a time when personal spending are tightening.

The leadership of Pizza Hut's international markets said the rescue aimed “to safeguard our customer service and retain staff where possible”.

It was explained its first focus was to keep running at the remaining 64 restaurants and off-premise points and to help employees through the restructure.

But with large sums going into operating its locations, it may be unable to allocate significant resources in its takeaway operation because the market is “difficult and working with existing external services comes at a price”, analysts say.

However, it's noted, reducing expenses by withdrawing from oversaturated towns and city centres could be a smart move to adapt.