🔗 Share this article

Once, Pizza Hut was the top choice for groups and loved ones to feast on its eat-as-much-as-you-like offering, endless salad selection, and self-serve ice-cream.

However not as many diners are frequenting the chain nowadays, and it is shutting down half of its UK locations after being rescued from insolvency for the second instance this calendar year.

“We used to go Pizza Hut when I was a child,” explains one London shopper. “It was a regular outing, you'd go on a Sunday – turn it into an event.” However, at present, as a young adult, she comments “it's not a thing anymore.”

In the view of a diner in her twenties, certain features Pizza Hut has been known and loved for since it opened in the UK in the 1970s are now less appealing.

“The manner in which they do their all-you-can-eat and their salad station, it appears that they are lowering standards and have inferior offerings... They offer so much food and you're like ‘How can they?’”

Because grocery costs have increased significantly, Pizza Hut's buffet-style service has become increasingly pricey to operate. Similarly, its restaurants, which are being cut from a large number to a smaller figure.

The chain, similar to other firms, has also experienced its operating costs rise. Earlier this year, staffing costs rose due to higher minimum pay and an increase in employer national insurance contributions.

Two diners explain they used to go at Pizza Hut for a date “from time to time”, but now they get delivery from another pizza brand and think Pizza Hut is “very overpriced”.

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

Although Pizza Hut has takeaway and deliveries through external services, it is losing out to major competitors which specialize to this market.

“Domino's has managed to dominate the takeaway pizza sector thanks to strong promotions and ongoing discounts that make customers feel like they're finding a good deal, when in reality the base costs are on the higher side,” notes the specialist.

However for the couple it is justified to get their date night sent directly.

“We absolutely dine at home now rather than we eat out,” comments the female customer, echoing current figures that show a decline in people visiting quick-service eateries.

In the warmer season, quick-service eateries saw a 6% drop in customers compared to the previous year.

Moreover, another rival to restaurant and takeaway pizzas: the supermarket pizza.

A hospitality expert, head of leisure and hospitality at a major consultancy, explains that not only have supermarkets been offering good-standard prepared pies for a long time – some are even offering pizza-making appliances.

“Evolving preferences are also contributing in the success of quick-service brands,” comments the expert.

The increased interest of high protein diets has increased sales at grilled chicken brands, while reducing sales of high-carbohydrate options, he continues.

Since people go out to eat less frequently, they may seek out a more premium experience, and Pizza Hut's American-diner style with comfortable booths and red and white checked plastic table cloths can feel more retro than luxurious.

The rise of artisanal pizza places” over the last 10 to 15 years, for example popular brands, has “completely altered the public's perception of what good pizza is,” notes the industry commentator.

“A crisp, airy, digestible pizza with a carefully curated additions, not the massively greasy, heavy and overloaded pizzas of the past. That, arguably, is what's caused Pizza Hut's downfall,” she states.

“Why would anyone spend nearly eighteen pounds on a tiny, mediocre, unsatisfying pizza from a chain when you can get a stunning, expertly crafted traditional pie for under a tenner at one of the many real Italian restaurants around the country?

“It's a no-brainer.”

A mobile pizza vendor, who runs a pizza van based in a regional area comments: “It's not that stopped liking pizza – they just want higher quality at a fair price.”

He says his mobile setup can offer premium pizza at affordable costs, and that Pizza Hut struggled because it was unable to evolve with evolving tastes.

According to an independent chain in Bristol, owner Jack Lander says the industry is diversifying but Pizza Hut has not provided anything innovative.

“You now have by-the-slice options, artisanal styles, new haven, fermented dough, Neapolitan, deep-dish – it's a wonderful array for a pizza enthusiast to discover.”

The owner says Pizza Hut “should transform” as newer generations don't have any sense of nostalgia or allegiance to the brand.

Over time, Pizza Hut's share has been fragmented and spread to its more modern, agile rivals. To maintain its costly operations, it would have to increase costs – which commentators say is challenging at a time when household budgets are decreasing.

The managing director of Pizza Hut's overseas branches said the acquisition aimed “to safeguard our guest experience and protect jobs where possible”.

It was explained its first focus was to maintain service at the open outlets and takeaway hubs and to assist staff through the change.

Yet with so much money going into operating its locations, it probably cannot to spend heavily in its takeaway operation because the market is “complex and using existing external services comes at a expense”, analysts say.

However, it's noted, cutting its costs by withdrawing from oversaturated towns and city centres could be a effective strategy to adjust.