As the restaurant industry struggles amid the coronavirus outbreak, Pizza Hut is banking on decades of experience in delivery and carryout to carry it through the crisis.
"Ninety-eight percent of traditional Pizza Huts are open and serving," Kevin Hochman, president of Pizza Hut's U.S. division, told Cheddar.
The KFC executive, who was hired earlier this year to help reverse the chain's falling sales, said the brand is uniquely positioned to survive and thrive during the outbreak.
"Just being in the delivery and carryout business is one thing," he said. "Actually designing your business to be able to take advantage of that is another one."
The chain is offering "contactless" deliveries, carryouts, and soon curbside pick-up to protect customers. Hochman said that 60 percent of online deliveries are now contactless, which he defines as an order that is left with a customer without any interaction with the driver.
Pizza Hut isn't the only pizza chain primed for the delivery economy. Dominos has seen its stock rise more than 30 percent over the past year. The pizza chain, which reinvented itself in recent years following a widely acknowledged drop in its reputation, has converted the majority of its businesses to carryout and delivery. Now Pizza Hut is following the same trend lines.
"The business has definitely changed over the last five years, and the new stores that we're building, more and more of them have either less dining room seating or no dining rooms at all," he said. "So we're certainly poised to grow with these trends."
One trend that Pizza Hut is holding off on, however, is using third-party platforms to handle deliveries. The company sees hiring its own drivers as particularly important now, as they roll out new policies to protect workers and customers alike from infection.
"One of the advantages for us is that we can train our own drivers, and we know that we can have a fairly consistent contactless delivery experience," Hochman said.
Pizza Hut announced earlier in April that it's hiring 30,000 workers, the majority of which will be drivers.
Hochman pointed out that the brand's commitment to delivery was actually the inspiration for its signature pan pizza.
"The pan pizza was invented as a recipe when we got into the delivery business decades ago because it delivers amazingly well," he said. "It's a thicker crust and really stands the test of time of going from the pizza restaurant all the way to your home."
Corrected April 21 to reflect that Kevin Hochman still serves as KFC President.
