Pizza Hut set for 400 store Aussie expansion

A fast food battle is looming in Australia with Pizza Hut unveiling aggressive new expansion plans as it aims to take on Domino’s.

Pizza Hut has unveiled aggressive new Australian expansion plans as it aims to take on Domino’s.

After launching in Australia in 1970, Pizza Hut was a huge chain in the 1980s and 1990s, with large, restaurant-style eateries dotted across the suburban landscape.

Fans will remember their famously low all-you-can-eat pricing and self-serve dessert bars.

An old-style dine-in Pizza Hut. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Naomi Jellicoe.

But the chain struggled in the 2000s under the weight of increased competition and a shift away from dine-in fast food restaurants.

It currently has about 10 per cent of the Australian pizza market, compared to Domino’s’ 50 per cent market share.

In June, US-based Flynn Restaurant Group bought the master licence for Pizza Hut in Australia from private equity firm Allegro Funds.

New-look Pizza Huts are now takeaway only.

There are currently 260 Pizza Hut stores in Australia, and Ron Bellamy, Flynn’s chief operating officer who is responsible for the local business, told The Australian Financial Review they will open at least 30 new Pizza Huts in 2024.

Pizza Hut Australia CEO Phil Reed added that the company had identified 400 sites across Australian where it could open a store.

“We haven’t got enough stores across Australia at the moment,” Mr Bellamy said.

“There’s a huge amount of white space,” Mr Reed added.

By contrast, there are around 750 Domino’s across Australia.

Pizza Hut Australia CEO Phil Reed said they have identified sites for up to 400 new stores. Picture: Chris Pavlich for The Australian.

Mr Bellamy said that the large gap in market share between Domino’s and Pizza Hut was part of the appeal of buying the business.

He added that there weren’t many markets where the gap between the two pizza chains was as large.

Flynn will also increase its advertising as it looks to steal market share.

“It’s a market share game. That share has got to come from somewhere,” Mr Bellamy said.

Pizza Hut will record sales of $300 – $310 million for the 2023 calendar year, Mr Reed said.

Domino’s Australian and New Zealand sales totalled $1.4 billion in the year to June 30, 2023.

Flynn Restaurant Group acquired the Australian Pizza Hut business in June 2023.

Flynn is the largest restaurant franchise operator in the world, with more than 2300 fast food outlets in the US, including 945 Pizza Huts, along with Taco Bell, Wendy’s, Applebee’s and Arby’s.

The Australian Pizza Hut deal was its first expansion outside the US.

In August, it also signed a new master franchise agreement with Wendy’s to open 200 Wendy’s restaurants in Australia between now and 2034.