Some of the most well-known restaurant chains on the UK high street have agreed to work with the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to put healthy eating firmly on the menu for their customers.PizzaExpress, Pizza Hut, The Restaurant Group, Tragus and Domino’s have all agreed to provide commitments, which will focus on the range of healthier options available to their customers. The companies together operate more than 2,000 restaurants and takeaway outlets across the UK. Although the commitments are... ...Read more »

Twitter, the micro-blogging platform that challenges users to think in 140 characters or less, is taking the world by storm, and businesses are searching for ways to capitalise on its flourishing popularity. The social networking dilemma Companies are increasingly unsure of how to tackle the proliferation of online social networking sites, which have the potential to quickly tarnish a brand image built on decades of hard work. The spread of word of mouth by employees and customers is consequently... ...Read more »

Australia’s leading pizza chains are upping marketing spend and altering menus as the fight for the fast-food dollar intensifies. With the much-publicised ‘trading down’ from restaurants, a number of fast-food restaurants have recorded strong sales growth despite the economic concerns. Among them have been Australia’s most prominent pizza makers and they are keen to ensure that their momentum continues with marketing spend on the rise. Crust Gourmet Pizza Bars, one of Australia’s... ...Read more »

Yum! Brands, the owner of the KFC and Pizza Hut brands, has reported global system-sales growth of 7%, excluding foreign currency translation, driven by record international development of 1,495 new units. Operating profit growth rose 8%, with strong international growth offsetting weakness in the US market. David C. Novak, Chairman and CEO, noted that the results had exceeded their annual target but remained cautious about the future. “These results for 2008 again exceeded our annual target... ...Read more »

Yum! Brands is to test a co-branding of their Pizza Hut outlets in Australia in a bid to boost market share. The company has seen Domino’s assume the market leadership in the fast-food pizza market after they held top spot at the turn of the century. Pizza Hut Chief Executive Albert Baladi said Pizza Hut would maintain its strong focus on pizza but wants to now become just as famous for pasta. “The launch of tuscani pasta, along with testing the Pasta Hut brand, is the first step in Pizza... ...Read more »

Pizza Hut, the world’s largest pizza franchise, is launching the first stage in a menu-wide transition to pizzas made entirely from natural ingredients in the US. The new pizzas will provide their customers the opportunity to have pizza free from artificial preservatives, colours and flavours, they advised. The notion of ‘natural’ has been a popular one in the food industry over the last couple of years, with research released yesterday suggesting that “natural” was... ...Read more »

With research suggesting that over 50% of Australians are accessing the internet before they make a purchase, the importance of the internet for businesses large and small cannot be understated. While some food retailers have been slow to react to the trend the many who have, have benefited. A mere five years ago most small businesses would not have wasted their time setting up a website but now small business websites are commonplace. They are particularly important for take-away food outlets and... ...Read more »

Pizza Hut, the world’s largest pizza company, have recently implemented a new online ordering system dubbed the “virtual waiter” to enhance their online ordering capabilities. The upgrade will enable the system to match customer food selections with similar orders to suggest the most popular mealtime combinations. The update to their system comes just a year after the introduction of online ordering to their website and was in response to consumer demand, according to Bernard Acoca,... ...Read more »