More than a year after launching beer deliveries throughout Phoenix, Arizona, Pizza Hut today announced plans to expand the service into 1,000 stores by mid-2019.
The national pizza chain, owned by Yum Brands, said it would expand its beer delivery service into five new states — Florida, Iowa, Nebraska, North Carolina and Ohio — by mid-January. The company also plans to offer beer deliveries from more restaurant locations in Arizona, as well as California, where it launched the service last May.
In a press release, Pizza Hut called the expansion of its beer delivery program, which will be offered at 281 stores this month, “a brand priority.”
“We are proud to be pioneers of beer delivery and are well-poised to take on more markets in the coming year,” Pizza Hut chief brand officer Marianne Radley said, via the release.
In an email to Brewbound, a Pizza Hut spokesperson said the company is “committed to improving the modern pizza experience – and beer delivery falls into this category.”
Pizza Hut’s initial slate of brews available for delivery are produced by three major beer companies: Anheuser-Busch InBev (Bud Light, Budweiser, Busch Light, Four Peaks Brewing Kilt Lifter, Michelob Ultra, Shock Top, Stella Artois), MillerCoors (Blue Moon, Coors Light, Miller Lite, Miller High Life) and Constellation Brands (Corona Extra). Prices range from $3 to $5 per 2-pack and $6 to $12 per 6-pack.
“The beers we’ve selected are among the most popular in the United States,” the spokesperson told Brewbound. “We didn’t want to handcuff our customers to one or two beer selections because we know they like variety – and this list of offerings achieves that.”
That variety, however, does not include offerings from independently owned craft breweries. The Pizza Hut spokesperson explained that the first phase of the rollout is focused on popular mainstream offerings, and the company would “evaluate craft beer opportunities in the future.”
In December 2017, Pizza Hut began testing delivery of 6-packs of Anheuser-Busch products in Phoenix. Five months later, the company expanded the pilot program to about 100 of the chain’s restaurants in Arizona as well as California.
The latest expansion of Pizza Hut’s beer delivery program is timed to precede Super Bowl LIII, which takes place Sunday, February 3. Last February, Pizza Hut was named the new “official pizza sponsor” of the NFL.
“Our expanded beer delivery program and Super Bowl weekend creates a great level of excitement across our participating franchise partners and team members,” Pizza Hut chief customer and operations officer Nicolas Burquier said, in the release. “Beer delivery is a game-changing lever that we’ll continue to pull in order to deliver oven-hot pizzas with ice-cold beer to customers watching and celebrating their favorite teams.”
In recent years, Pizza Hut’s parent company, Yum Brands, has made moves into the alcoholic beverage space, including offering beer, wine and other alcoholic drinks at newly designed Taco Bell “cantina” stores in urban centers. Last month, Taco Bell opened three Cantina restaurants in Manhattan and launched a collaboration beer called Big City Bell Pilsner with Anheuser-Busch owned Blue Point Brewing Company at those restaurants.
A press release with additional information on Pizza Hut’s expanded beer delivery program is included below.
PIZZA HUT BEER DELIVERY EXPANDS TO NEARLY 300 RESTAURANTS AHEAD OF SUPER BOWL LIII
New participating states include: Florida, Iowa, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio and additional locations in California and Arizona
PLANO, Tex. (January 7, 2019) – The expansion continues – and isn’t expected to stop – with Pizza Hut adding more restaurants to its category-first beer delivery program. Today, the company announced the second expansion of the program to nearly 300 restaurants across Florida, Iowa, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, and additional locations across California and Arizona by mid-January. The rollout is a brand priority, with Pizza Hut aiming to grow beer delivery capabilities to 1,000 restaurants across new markets by Summer 2019.
The announcement is aptly timed ahead of Super Bowl LIII, one of the busiest days of the year for Pizza Hut. According to a recent survey, 86% of Americans plan to serve both pizza and beer at their upcoming Super Bowl party this year. With this recent expansion, Pizza Hut is serving more customers than ever as a one-stop-shop for both.
“As the official Pizza Sponsor of the NFL, we’ve been celebrating football fans all season long, so it only makes sense for us to bring more customers the beloved combo of pizza and beer ahead of the Super Bowl,” said Marianne Radley, Chief Brand Officer, Pizza Hut. “We are proud to be pioneers of beer delivery and are well-poised to take on more markets in the coming year.”
In December 2017, Pizza Hut launched its beer delivery pilot program in Arizona and expanded to parts of California five months later. Now, in 2019, with strong franchise partner participation, the company is in seven different states with additional markets forthcoming.
“Our expanded beer delivery program and Super Bowl weekend creates a great level of excitement across our participating franchise partners and team members,” said Nicolas Burquier, Chief Customer and Operations Officer, Pizza Hut. “Beer delivery is a game-changing lever that we’ll continue to pull in order to deliver oven-hot pizzas with ice-cold beer to customers watching and celebrating their favorite teams.”
“Super Bowl Sunday is one of our biggest days of the year, and now being able to offer the pizza-beer delivery combo in Orlando, FL during the big game, is a great upgrade our customers will truly enjoy,” said Carl Vannostrand, President and COO of CFL Pizza, a Pizza Hut franchisee organization.
Qualifying orders must meet delivery minimum requirements and be placed through PizzaHut.com, the Pizza Hut Mobile App for iPhone and Android or via phone. Delivery fees apply. For more information about Pizza Hut visit Blog.PizzaHut.com or head to PizzaHut.com to order now.
About Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut, a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM ), has more restaurant locations in the world than any other pizza company. Founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kan., Pizza Hut operates over 16,800 restaurants in more than 100 countries.
With easy order options including the Pizza Hut app, mobile site, and Amazon and Google devices, Pizza Hut is committed to providing an easy pizza experience – from order to delivery – and has Hut Rewards, the Pizza Hut loyalty program, that offers points for every dollar spent on food any way you order.
Pizza Hut is also the proprietor of The Literacy Project, an initiative designed to enable access, empower teachers and inspire a lifelong love of reading. The program is rooted in the foundation set by the Pizza Hut BOOK IT! Program, which is the longest-running corporate supported literacy program, impacting more than 14 million students each year. For more information, visit www.pizzahut.com. Pizza Hut is the Official and Only Pizza Sponsor of the NFL and NCAA.