Mumbai,Aug 21 : Pizza-lovers can now relish their palates with tinge of beer and wine as Pizza Hut is all set to extend this service across the country after pilot-testing it at the select outlets in Delhi and Bangalore. “We have just started serving wine and beer to our customers at two Delhi stores and wine at five stores in Bangalore. We will be adding new such stores. The idea is to have this service across all our outlets,” Pizza Hut marketing head Sunay Bhasin told PTI here.
The popular quick service restaurant (QSR) chain Pizza Hut had applied for permit to offer wine and beer at its outlets last October. Its parent, the American restaurant chain Yum Restaurants, also operates three other QSR brands:
KFC, Taco Bell and Long John Silvers in the country. Bhasin said the firm would expand its presence into tier-II and tier-III cities by 2015 as demand is growing in small towns due to rising income levels and changing lifestyles and food habits.
“We have a goal of adding about 50 percent of our current base by 2015,” he said, adding “by then we would have 180-200 outlets”.
The company currently runs 120 dining restaurants across 34 cities.
Bhasin said it is likely that the company will extend its footprint to around 16 locations by 2015. “Wherever there is a demand for our dining experience, our endeavour would be to deliver that. Anywhere there is retail space and people demand for such experience we would love to be there,” he added.
The Rs 9,000-crore organised eating-out market is growing at 25 percent.Bhasin said the current strategy was to change the concept of Pizza Hut from the traditional QSR to a casual dining restaurant. PTI
