Pizza Hut unveils upscale diner

One of the world’s most popular pizza parlors recently introduced a newer concept to its Cebuano market dubbed as the Pizza Hut Bistro along with the soft opening of the SM City Cebu Northwing.

Pizza Hut Bistro is the newest venture of Philippine Pizza Incorporated, the franchise owner and operator of international brand Pizza Hut in the country.

According to Philippine Pizza Inc. vice-president for Concept Development Rose M. Herrera in an interview, Pizza Hut Bistro underscores an upscale concept, one of the experimental ideas of the company to attract more segments of the market.

She said that the concept of their bistro is entirely separate from their regular pizza hut outlets. “In all aspects, its one notch higher than our regular pizza hut from facilities to people and marketing strategies,” stressed Herrera.

The upscale concept has been started in 2005 and at the moment, Pizza Hut Bistro already counts nine outlets and their SM City Northwing is considered their first bistro outside Metro Manila.

Herrera explained that the upscale concept is not meant to compete with Pizza Hut’s existing concept as it is aimed at attracting the needs and desire of the high-end market.

Although some of their product offering are similar, the bistro serves gourmet pizza and other new dishes that is not available in regular Pizza Hut outlets.

Herrera discussed that they particularly chose to locate their first bistro in SM City’s Northwing because, “it was the first opportunity that was presented to us and we believe that the new concept that SM introduced in the Northwing, which is attracting the high-end market, is the right fit for Pizza Hut Bistro.”

The Pizza Hut Bistro that was opened last December 30 at the Northwing has a floor area of 200 square meters and a seating capacity of 75 people. It has an al fresco setting and has a casual-type design and ambiance.

Pizza Hut was started by a family composed of two brothers and their mom in Wichita, Kansas who generated $600 that later on turned into the recipe for the world’s largest pizza company in 1958. After it opened its first international restaurant in Canada in 1968, Pizza Hut restaurants appeared in Mexico, South America, Australia, Europe, the Far East and Africa.

One important step in its growth came when Pizza Hut was acquired by PepsiCo, Inc., one of the giants of international business in 1977. PepsiCo spun off its restaurant businesses which carried Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell, and founded Tricon, which officially became YUM! brands after the addition of two new labels: Long John Silver’s and A&W in 2002. Today YUM! Brands is the parent company of Taco Bell, KFC, A&W, Long John Silver’s and Pizza Hut.

Pizza Hut now operates in more than 100 countries and territories throughout the world.  In Cebu, Pizza Hut has six outlets, five of which are regular outlets located at Fuente Osmeña, Gaisano Country Mall, SM City Cebu, Ayala Center, and a delivery outlet at Rufino Arcade in Mambaling. —Rhia de Pablo