🔗 Share this article

At one time, the popular pizza chain was the go-to for groups and loved ones to enjoy its unlimited dining experience, endless salad selection, and self-serve ice-cream.

However fewer customers are frequenting the chain these days, and it is reducing 50% of its British outlets after being bought out of administration for the second instance this year.

It was common to visit 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, aged 24, she comments “it's fallen out of favor.”

In the view of 23-year-old Martina, the very elements Pizza Hut has been famous for since it started in the UK in the 1970s are now less appealing.

“The way they do their all-you-can-eat and their salad bar, it feels like they are cutting corners and have inferior offerings... They're giving away 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 increasingly pricey to maintain. As have its locations, which are being reduced from a large number to just over 60.

The chain, like many others, has also seen its costs rise. Earlier this year, employee wages increased due to higher minimum pay and an increase in employer social security payments.

Chris, 36, and Joanne, 29 explain they would often visit at Pizza Hut for a date “occasionally”, but now they get delivery from Domino's and think Pizza Hut is “too expensive”.

Depending on your selection, Pizza Hut and Domino's prices are close, says a culinary author.

Although Pizza Hut has takeaway and deliveries through delivery platforms, it is falling behind to major competitors which focus exclusively to this market.

“Domino's has succeeded in leading the delivery market thanks to strong promotions and constantly running deals that make customers feel like they're getting a bargain, when in reality the original prices are quite high,” explains the analyst.

But for Chris and Joanne it is justified to get their date night delivered to their door.

“We predominantly have meals at home now more than we eat out,” explains one of the diners, matching current figures that show a decrease in people frequenting informal dining spots.

Over the summer, informal dining venues saw a six percent decline in customers compared to the year before.

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

A hospitality expert, senior partner at an advisory group, explains that not only have supermarkets been providing high-quality prepared pies for quite a while – some are even promoting home-pizza ovens.

“Shifts in habits are also contributing in the performance of quick-service brands,” says the analyst.

The growing trend of high protein diets has increased sales at chicken shops, while reducing sales of high-carbohydrate options, he continues.

Since people go out to eat less frequently, they may look for a more premium experience, and Pizza Hut's classic look with booth seating and traditional décor can feel more retro than luxurious.

The rise of high-quality pizzerias” over the last several years, such as boutique chains, has “dramatically shifted the general opinion of what quality pizza is,” notes the industry commentator.

“A light, fresh, easy-to-digest product with a few choice toppings, not the overly oily, dense and piled-high pizzas of the past. That, I think, is what's led to Pizza Hut's downfall,” she says.

“Who would choose to spend nearly eighteen pounds on a modest, low-quality, underwhelming pizza from a chain when you can get a stunning, expertly crafted Margherita for less than ten pounds at one of the many traditional pizzerias around the country?

“The decision is simple.”

An independent operator, who operates a small business based in Suffolk explains: “People haven’t fallen out of love with pizza – they just want higher quality at a fair price.”

He says his flexible operation can offer high-quality pie at accessible prices, and that Pizza Hut faced challenges because it could not keep up with new customer habits.

At a small pizza brand in a UK location, owner Jack Lander says the sector is diversifying but Pizza Hut has failed to offer anything fresh.

“You now have individual slices, artisanal styles, New Haven-style, fermented dough, traditional Italian, Detroit – it's a wonderful array for a pizza-loving consumer to explore.”

The owner says Pizza Hut “needs to reinvent itself” as younger people don't have any fond memories or loyalty to the chain.

Over time, Pizza Hut's customer base has been sliced up and spread to its trendier, more nimble competitors. To sustain its costly operations, it would have to raise prices – which experts say is challenging at a time when household budgets are tightening.

A senior executive of Pizza Hut's overseas branches said the buyout aimed “to safeguard our dining experience and retain staff where possible”.

The executive stated its first focus was to maintain service at the remaining 64 restaurants and delivery sites and to assist staff through the transition.

However with so much money going into maintaining its outlets, it likely can't afford to allocate significant resources in its off-premise division because the sector is “complex and partnering with existing external services comes at a expense”, analysts say.

But, he adds, cutting its costs by withdrawing from crowded locations could be a good way to adjust.