Business

Pizza Hut set to open 75 new outlets in Pakistan

American fast food giant and local partner set to invest over $3 million in the next 5 years

Murtaza Abbas May 20, 2017

Pizza Hut at Jinnah Market. PHOTO: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

KARACHI: American fast food giant Pizza Hut has decided to double its presence in Pakistan, the company and its local partner announced on Friday, adding that they would open 75 new outlets at an approximate investment of $3.4 million.

During a ceremony at the US Consulate in Karachi, a new franchise agreement was signed between Yum! Brands - a Fortune 500 company that owns Pizza Hut - and its local partner MCR. The deal was aimed at expanding Pizza Hut's presence in Pakistan and adding to its network of 75 outlets over the period of next five years.

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While the official press release stated that the agreement commits to an expansion of "150 new Pizza Hut units in Pakistan", Pizza Hut (Middle East) General Manager Randall Blackford confirmed that the company is targeting a total number of 150 outlets across the country.

"We are currently operating at almost 75 units in Pakistan and we are going to double this number in the next four to five years," he told The Express Tribune.

"Pizza Hut has a long list of first milestones, which include the first food product to be sold over the internet and the first food product to be delivered to outer space. Therefore, it is natural that we want to reach the milestone of first restaurant chain to have 150 outlets in Pakistan," he added.

Inaugurated in December 1993, Pizza Hut was the first international franchise to enter Pakistan and also the first one to expand its presence in all four provinces of the country. It currently operates under MCR, a Pakistani company that is part of the services sector for the past 25 years.

"Pakistan is a great market for us and we have made so much progress over the years that we want to double it again," said Blackford, when asked about the motivation behind expansion. "Additionally, Pizza Hut is a massive revenue-generating brand especially in this part of the world, hence our eagerness to capitalise on the market."

Meanwhile, MCR President Aqueel Hasan said that the agreement presents a massive opportunity for Pakistan, adding that the country was looking at approximately $3.4 million on average in investment alone from the deal. "The amount of investment varies between the size of the proposed outlets, but the figure is anywhere from $300,000 to $600,000 per unit," he said. Moreover, the agreement has been slated to generate around 3,500 jobs, excluding the spill-over effects from the expansion.

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"This is a huge investment not only in monetary terms, but also it terms of skilled labour force available in the economy," said Blackford. "Each outlet has a couple of dozen people working, so hiring them and training them - that is a massive investment in time."

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2017.

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COMMENTS (9)

Imran | 7 years ago | Reply Some of the existing locations need a major revamp and retraining of management staff. Very rude and unprofessional people living off the brand name only. Food quality also needs to be brought up to international standards. I have had better tasting pizza at pizza hut outlets in Africa.

Ali S | 7 years ago | Reply They should improve their quality first. It's overpriced and tastes very bland and greasy, plus we have so many much better local gourmet pizza chains - California Pizza's Super Supreme is actually more like the Super Supreme that Pizza Hut serves abroad in UAE/Gulf countries.

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Pizza fan | 7 years ago | Reply 75 new outlets selling just bread... they should re-brand as a bakery, Dough Hut. I ordered their buy one get one deal and the pizza's came with hardly any chicken, cheese or any topping, I could count the pieces of chicken on it. Don't understand why they called it Super Supreme.

Sam Rajput | 7 years ago | Reply The pizza was worth around 2000.RS but was not tasty,I found better than that in a Local Pizza shop.Anyways ,Pakistanis are very foody People,with meat is their king Dish,Pizza hut is generating huge Profit from pakistan.

Hakim | 7 years ago | Reply Junk food for our youth while the profits will be repatriated to America and Israel.

Retired | 7 years ago | Reply @Type TWO Diabetes and ruin your health: hmmmm ..... people reverse engineer software, phones, smart devices etc. You Sir/Madam on the other hand, reverse-engineered cheese, vegetables and/or meat on a round piece of dough! Hats off to you!

Type TWO Diabetes and ruin your health | 7 years ago | Reply They are capitalists stealing revenue out of a poor country. I live in Los Angeles and I went only twice to pizza-hut in my life. I have reverse engineered the pizza and make at home. First, I do not use any tomato sauce as it has HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN syrup which is BADD for health. Second, I use brown pita bread as base as it is much healthy while the dough base they use is very unhealthy and would give you early diabetes, heart disease and spike in sexual temporary drive. It is very bad for NORMAL physiological health. The only good thing in it is cheese which you can make at home by taking Mozarella cheese and shredding it as we do gajjar for halwa. Finally, warm the bread on tawa on both sides and put cheese on top and let it gradually melt. Do not use Jalepeno regularly (unhealthy, causes ulcers) (diced and soaked in vinegar 1/2hr, but it must be dried prior to applying on cheese; by heating in microwave where it will cause some sparking due to high electrolyte concentration). But sprinkle black pepper (very healthy, releases endorphins without ulceration) on top of cheese. You will have incredibly healthy pizza at home, no need to drive, and it can be stored in refrigerator and used as holiday snack as it is drier due to the absence of tomato sauce.

Gemini | 7 years ago | Reply @Logitech: Plus they are way to expensive as compared to other pizza's.

Logitech | 7 years ago | Reply Why? Pizza joints are now rolling out New York, Boston, authentic Italian style pizzas yet Pizza Hut still has the same, stale menu.

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