Pizza Hut Targets Small Families

 

It was back in the early 1990’s that our Grocerant Guru® was invited to the grand opening of the very first Pizza Hut in Hong Kong.  While walking around and talking with guest enjoying their meal one couple from Singapore told him they were disappointed.  They like the food, were smiling but disappointed. He asked them why?  They stated they had thought that Pizza Hut was a U.S. fast food restaurant.  That perception is about to change once again.

Success does leave clues and here are some key facts our own Grocerant Guru® has been share with you over the years. Most recently he stated that there were 37 million one-person households in 2021, or 28% of all U.S. households, there were 35 million two—person or 27.5 % of households in 2021. Now regular readers of this blog know that is 55.5% of all U.S. Households.

Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® has been touting the value of the ‘single’ consumer and the frequency at which they eat out at restaurants rather than cooking for 27 years. Pizza Hut is now listening and it will pay off for them.

This week Pizza Hut debuted a new hand-held offering designed not to be shared, with a value-positioned price and more daypart flexibility. The new Melts are a bit like individual slices, if those slices were folded over and dipped in sauce. Targeting the single meal, and empowering choice.

Small Families Are Big Business

Want to build a Larger Share of Stomach

So, you can order Melts that include two slices of Pizza Hut’s Thin N’ Crispy crust topped with cheese and other options, then folded over and baked in a way that evokes both a stromboli and a quesadilla.

Melts are served with dipping sauces, and the snack or meal is priced at a recommended $6.99.

There are four recipes:

·         Pepperoni Lover’s served with marinara dipping sauce.

·         Buffalo Chicken served with buffalo and ranch dipping sauce options.

·         Chicken Bacon Parmesan served with ranch dipping sauce.

·         Meat Lover’s served with marinara.

Here is where the messaging with drive home the point!  So, in a marketing campaign encouraging guests to “go solo,” Pizza Hut will award lucky guests online with $100 (as a gift card) if they agree to sign an “MDA,” or a “Melts Disclosure Agreement” pledging not to share images of the new Melts on their social media. The pledge can be made at meltsarenotforsharing.com, and the MDAs, of course, are not legally binding.

Lindsay Morgan, Pizza Hut’s chief marketing officer, stated, “We like to say—pizza is for WE; Melts are for ME because sometimes you want the delicious taste of pizza all for yourself without having to order and share an entire pie,” …. “With Melts, now there’s a new way to get the bold flavors of your favorite pizza—or what you might get on your favorite sandwich—just for you, whenever and wherever you want.”

Most of you know that personal pan pizzas are a mainstay on Pizza Hut’s menu, but the addition of Melts expands the chain’s offerings for a single diner.

Fresh, fast and fabulous, melts will also likely appeal to drive-thru and to-go diners. Yum Brands-owned Pizza Hut has added digital order pickup windows to more than 1,500 locations, dubbed The Hut Lane. Pizza Hut has more than 18,000 units systemwide in more than 100 countries.

Looking for success clues of your own? Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced food marketing and business development ideations. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities, technology, or a new menu product segment.  Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit us on our social media sites by clicking one of the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter