Pizza Hut Menu Additions Failing To Generate Additional Sales

One of the 21 Pizza Hut menu options we sampled back in late 2014.

A few months back, Pizza Hut announced a complete menu revamp, adding a bunch of new crusts, drizzles, toppings and whatnot to their regular slate of pizzas. We sampled 21 of these additions ahead of their release, though we weren’t exactly blown away, and it looks like we weren’t the only ones unmoved by the changes.

Earlier this week, the nation’s largest Pizza Hut franchisee, which operates 1,277 Pizza Hut along with more than one hundred Wendy’s, announced its quarterly earnings and said that the “new ‘Flavors of Now’ positioning did not deliver the sales momentum that we had anticipated.”

In fact, sales for the quarter were down 3.5%. That said, the franchisee’s CEO says the company still believes in the new flavors; it’s just a matter of getting the world to actually try them.

He contends that these “Flavor of Now” menu options offer a “diverse flavor platform that better connects with millennials and provides the brand a leveragable point of differentiation,” but admits “there is much work to be done to bring more awareness” of the revamp.

“In fact, consumers who have tried our new flavors have a higher propensity to return to Pizza Hut when compared to those who have not tried the new flavor options,” he explained, according to Nation’s Restaurant News. “However… it is clear we need to increase the awareness of the positioning and the related consumer benefits in the marketplace, especially with our core user, in order to achieve the desired result of increased market share and organic sales growth.”

The franchisee’s statements echo those made last month by curiously Australian Yum Brands CEO Greg Creed, who said that “the initial relaunch of the Pizza Hut brand in the U.S. did not deliver the sales lift we expected.”

Pizza Hut franchisee: ‘Flavors of Now’ relaunch yet to gain traction [NRN.com]

Pizza Hut’s Largest Franchisee Says Menu Revamp Hasn’t Helped Sales [Entrepreneur.com]

by Chris Morran via Consumerist