Pizza Hut will launch a Detroit-style pizza as its change continues

Pizza Hut is advancing the Detroit-style pizza pan trend as it appears to continue its shift in 2021 after last year’s strong sales growth.

Starting Tuesday, the Yum Brands will sell four different types of Detroit-style pizza for a limited time, with prices starting at $ 10.99.

Detroit-style pizza is characterized by its rectangular shape, thick crust, end-to-end cheese, and tomato sauce covering the cheese and other toppings. Pizza has been growing in popularity over the past decade, as Michiganders opened pizzerias elsewhere in the U.S. Little Caesars, privately owned and based in Detroit, was the first national pizza chain to catch on to the masses. in 2013.

Buddy’s Pizza is credited with creating the dish 75 years ago, using blue steel pans from local automotive factories. In 2018, CapitalSpring, a privately held company specializing in restaurant brands and franchisees, invested an undisclosed amount in Buddy’s to help it capitalize on the trend by expanding across the country.

“Detroit-style pizza is the fastest growing trend in pizza,” said David Graves, brand director of Pizza Hut USA. “It’s no longer a unique thing in the Midwest.”

He added that Pizza Hut customers expect the chain to give their own ideas about food trends and ask for a Detroit-style pizza.

“I’ve never seen our franchisees more excited about a launch,” Graves said.

The chain spent more than a year perfecting its own version and even created a new tomato sauce that will only be used in this type of pizza.

The Detroit Double Pepperoni has 80 slices of pepperoni, more than half of which are pepperoni in a cup. Double Cheesy pizza includes two types of cheese, while Meaty Deluxe includes bacon, Italian sausage and pepperoni in the cup. Supremo pizza includes green peppers, Italian sausage and red onion.

The launch comes as the pizza category approaches a year with growing demand, stemming from the coronavirus pandemic. Pizza Hut and its rivals Domino’s Pizza and Papa John’s saw sales growth in the same store in the U.S. during the second and third quarters of 2020. For Pizza Hut in particular, the crisis has helped accelerate its transition to more sales and delivery and less customers dinner.

Yum’s shares are nearly flat last year, giving it a market value of $ 31.8 billion. The company’s U.S. locations have recovered relatively quickly from the coronavirus pandemic, but its international restaurants have experienced a slower recovery.