Pizza Hut Israel

Pizza Hut Israel (פיצה האט)
Industry Fast-food restaurant
Founded Israel (1990)[1]
Headquarters Israel
Number of locations
 56 (September 2014)[2]
Area served
 Israel
Key people
 CEO - Udi Shamai
Products Pizza
Number of employees
 800[3]
Parent Pizza Hut
Website pizzahut.co.il

Pizza Hut Israel (Hebrew: פיצה האט‎) is the Israeli franchise of Pizza Hut with 56 branches as of September 2014.[2] Pizza Hut Israel is the largest pizza chain in Israel.[4]

History

Pizza Hut Israel opened their first location in 1990, under the master franchisee Clal Chains, a subsidiary of Clal Industried.[5] Initially the chain opened large sit down restaurants in the large Israeli cities.[5] In 2005 Pizza Hut Israel was struggling to compete and attempted to reinvent themselves, when CEO Udi Shamai announced a strategic move in revamping the menu.[6] By the time of this announcement Pizza Hut was down to 25 branches, from 33 branches in 2002.[6] Some of the branches that remained were moved from large sit down locations to smaller delivery focused locations.[5]

In 2008, CEO Udi Shamai and partner Niv Ziberstein acquired the chain from Clal under the name Tabasco Holdings.[5] At the time of the acquisition the chain was down to 20 branches.[5] Tabasco although retaining ownership of some locations, also began franchising other locations in Israel.[5]

In August 2013 Pizza Hut Israel released an Android and iPhone app to allow you to track your order status in real time.[7][8]

In 2013 Pizza Hut Israel reached 50 branches,[5] and as of September 2014 there were 56 branches[2] with plans to expand to 70.[5]

Kashrut

Pizza Hut Israel, unlike Domino's Pizza Israel, offers both kosher and non-kosher locations. Pizza Hut determines whether it is best for their sales for each location to be kosher or non-kosher.[5] A special run of cheese is created specifically for the kosher locations, and the menus clearly state which berakhah each item require.[9]

Passover

A number of Pizza Hut Israel locations remain open during Passover. Due to the Chametz Law in Israel, no restaurant can serve any chametz product, which pizza is.[10]

In 2014, 18 branches remained open during Passover.[11]

Fare

Pizza Hut Israel offers a wide selection of food. Including the traditional deep dish, they also offer a thin crust pizza.[4] In addition to pizza, they offer salads, quiche, focaccia and various desserts.[12]

Pizza Hut Israel is also one of the few Israeli chains that offers a gluten free pizza option. As of September 2014, 32 of the Pizza Hut Israel branches offered gluten free pizza.[13]

West Bank franchises

Many fast food chains in the West Bank such as McDonald's have trouble getting franchises without going through the Israeli franchisee. Pizza Hut however did not feel this was needed and allowed the first Palestinian owned location to open in Ramallah in 2012.[14]

Pizza Hut has allowed Israeli franchises to open in areas within the Jewish areas of the West Bank under the Israeli franchise agreement as well. This has called on many to boycott Pizza Hut in protest of this.[15]

In popular culture

In 2013, CEO and owner Udi Shamai appeared on the third episode of the first season of Undercover Boss Israel.[16]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Pizza Hut – Retrieved 2 September 2014
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Branches – Retrieved 2 September 2014
  3. ↑ 800 עובדי פיצה האט יקבלו העלאת שכר – Retrieved 2 September 2014
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 About – Retrieved 2 September 2014
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 Pizza Hut – Retrieved 2 September 2014
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Pizza Hut revamps to survive – Retrieved 2 September 2014
  7. ↑ Google Play Store – Retrieved 2 September 2014
  8. ↑ iTunes – Retrieved 2 September 2014
  9. ↑ Malcha Mall – The Kosher Scene – Retrieved 2 September 2014
  10. ↑ 56% of Israelis say Chametz Law necessary – Retrieved 2 September 2014
  11. ↑ Passover – Retrieved 2 September 2014
  12. ↑ Full Menu – Retrieved 2 September 2014
  13. ↑ Gluten-Free – Retrieved 2 September 2014
  14. ↑ American fried chicken comes to the Palestinian territories – Retrieved 2 September 2014
  15. ↑ Boycott Campaign: Pizza Hut – Retrieved 2 September 2014.
  16. ↑ Undercover Boss - Retrieved 10 September 2014