Pizza Hut, one of the world’s most famous pizza chains, started in a very simple way. In 1958, two brothers, Frank and Dan Carney, living in the US state of Kansas, borrowed $600 from their mother and built a small Pizza Restaurant Had opened. At that time, hardly anyone would have thought that this small business would later spread to more than 100 countries of the world.
There was space for only eight letters on the board outside the restaurant, so it was named “Pizza Hut”. Initially, the two brothers increased the number of customers by giving away free pizza slices and attracting students. His experiment was successful and soon the company started expanding through the franchise model.
The journey to becoming the world’s largest pizza chain
Pizza Hut expanded rapidly with the increasing popularity of pizza. By 1971, it had become the world’s largest pizza chain by sales. Its red-roofed restaurants, launched in 1969, became the hallmark of the brand. In 1977, PepsiCo acquired the company for more than $300 million. Later this business came under Yum Brands, which also owns big brands like KFC and Taco Bell.
In its heyday, Pizza Hut was known for family dining, buffet lunch and big restaurants. It reached around 20,000 outlets worldwide.
Domino’s and online delivery increased the challenge
With time the preferences of customers started changing. In the 1980s, Domino’s emphasized the home delivery model and rapidly increased market share. Pizza Hut, on the other hand, remained dependent on large dine-in restaurants. This challenge has increased further in the era of smartphones and food delivery apps. Customers started ordering food at home, due to which the traditional business model of Pizza Hut started weakening. Rising costs, inflation and changing eating habits also increased the company’s problems.
Business divided in deal worth 2.7 billion dollars
In June 2026, Yum Brands decided to split the Pizza Hut business into two parts. The company is selling its international business outside China to LongRange Capital for $1.5 billion, while it will buy the China business to Yum China Holdings for $1.2 billion. Overall this deal is worth 2.7 billion dollars i.e. about Rs 23,000 crore.
Interestingly, while Pizza Hut is struggling in many countries, the company continues to perform well in China. This is the reason why Yum China has made a big bet on this business. This deal is an example of the fact that even the biggest companies have to change their strategy in the changing market.
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