Pizza Hut Reinvented: What Has Changed? What Has Stayed The Same?

Pizza Hut is known as the place of ever expanding ideas to promote or make the next big pizza pie. From dinner and flix in the Middle East to stuffing bacon and cheese into pizza crusts. Then, bringing BookIT to adults and free pizzas to Fantasy football groups.

Pizza Hut has sure been busy. Unfortunately, despite all of this, their numbers are not turning out well. In fact, they just recently fired their CEO over those same numbers.

So, with all these changes not denting their numbers, what is their next logical step? To revamp the entire business, of course. The Inquisitr reported Sunday that Pizza Hut made an announcement that “Pizza will never be the same” and with that announcement, the date November 19, 2014 was listed with no further information. On Wednesday, all that waiting and mystery came to an end.

The first change has to do with the CEO changeover. The new CEO of Pizza Hut is… a New Yorker. David Gibbs, now the new Pizza Hut president, has promised that his tenure will be “radically reinventing the pizza category,” according to Business Week. YUM! Brands, Pizza Hut’s parent company, calls this change the “biggest brand evolution ever.”

So, what else is different? The pizza offerings has dramatically changed, and they fall under “Flavor of Now.” The Pensacola News Journal took the plunge in creating some pizzas from the new options. The publication reported on their builds.

“Garden Party, Old Fashioned Meatbrawl, Cock-a-doodle Bacon, Hot and Twisted; Pretzel Piggy; BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger; Pretzel Piggy; BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger; Giddy-Up BBQ Chicken, Buffalo State of Mind, Cherry Pepper Bombshell, 7-Alarm Fire and Sweet Sriracha Dynamite.”

New toppings, sauces, and crusts are all included in this radical addition. Pizza Hut’s VP of Marketing, Jared Drinkwater explained that the new additions are aimed at the younger crowd and delves into “flavor exploration.”

“If you look at the trends in food among young consumers, it’s about flavor exploration.”

According to Business Week, the crust options include Honey Sriracha, Salted Pretzel, and Ginger Boom Boom (ginger, garlic, paprika, black pepper). Honey Sriracha can also become the sauce for your pizza, along with buffalo. All of your old favorites like extra cheese and meat lovers are still options on the menu. The new “Flavor of Now” menu is merely a section.

However, the new CEO, crusts, and sauce are not the only noticeable differences; there have been some cosmetic changes to go along with the new roll out. One noticeable difference is that the entire website has been given a makeover.

The background is described as “cast iron”, according to Business Week. Fast Company brought to attention that the pizza boxes, the logo, and some store changes will begin to be rolled out soon. The Pizza Hut logo is apparently on its fourth refresh in 15 years, says Business Week. Mr. Gibbs says that as far as future options to be added that “nothing is off limits” and it will be if the “customer wants it.”

Though, it is unclear if the consumer does in fact want this change of flavor, it certainly sounds like the future will truly embody the “Customer is always right” mantra.

Are you excited about Pizza Hut’s new “Flavor of Now” menu section, or do you feel it is just a gimmick?

Leave your thoughts below.

[Image Courtesy of Pizza Hut]