Pizza Hut to double Thai network

Pizza Hut Thailand plans to double its store network within five years.

In an exclusive interview with The Nation newspaper, the new GM of Pizza Hut Thailand, Sabina Rizvi, says the company has a five year strategic plan to double its current 97-strong network and to achieve double digit profit growth.

“We want to more than double the number of our Pizza Hut stores in Thailand in the next five years. We will invest more than half a billion baht (US$15.3 million) in our five-year expansion.”

She said 70 per cent of the new stores would be delivery outlets.

Last year Pizza Hut opened its first Express restaurant format in Thailand, in the Mega Bangna shopping centre in Bangkok and a second at Seacon Square. At just 50sqm, these outlets are a quarter the size of the standard 200sqm Pizza Hut restaurants in the country. With smaller footprints, rental rates are considerably lower, but the store’s focus is more on delivery or selling to customers who can dine in shared tables of a foodcourt environment.

Rizvi said the stores were trading well.

Pizza Hut Thailand posted eight per cent growth in the first three quarters of last year.

“My vision is to make Pizza Hut the most loved pizza brand in Thailand,” Rizvi said.