EXCLUSIVE: Pizza Hut Delivery wants to give flexibility in fast casual
Managing director Neil Manhas shares the latest in their fast casual concepts.
What was Pizza Hut’s first-ever restaurant in the UK is getting a fast casual reboot.
Pizza Hut Delivery announced that its Islington store has been refurbished into the brand’s second “fast casual delivery” concept, more than a year after it opened its first site of this kind in Luton.
A brand-new store in Watford, meanwhile, will be their flagship “fast-casual express” store.
The new models, the brand clarifies, are part of its move to give flexibility for customers.
“The “Fast Casual” concepts have been created only to enhance our customer experience further by offering a whole new layer of choice,” Pizza Hut Delivery managing director Neil Manhas said in an interview with QSR Media.
Manhas explains that Fast Casual Delivery model has the chain’s full menu for customers who want more options for sharing, desserts and sides, a self-service refillable drinks option and a fast-bake express during lunch. The Fast Casual Express, meanwhile, has a smaller menu with less variety on pizza bases and sizes, geared for customers who want to ‘eat on the go’ whilst shopping.
“The “Fast Casual” concepts are not competing with our current offering, but rather adding an additional layer. The service experience as well as the menu offering are very different and cater to different occasions. For example, Pizza Hut Restaurants is table-service whereas with the “Fast Casual” concept, customers order at the counter and then also have the option to eat at a table if they want. It is perfect for customers that don’t have time for the formal ceremony of a restaurant, but they do want the convenience and speed of being able to sit down and enjoy their meal, he explained.
The slightly different fast casual concepts is also a clear move to explore different demographics.
“The Fast Casual Express concept will largely exist in shopping centres where a captive market exists, whereas Fast Casual Delivery will be the option for our typical high street locations,” Manhas said.
