DALLAS, TEXAS, and JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA, – Pizza Hut, a division of Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM), today announced the opening of its first restaurant in Africa. The introduction of Pizza Hut on the Continent reflects the Company’s expansion in emerging markets. Pizza Hut is the world’s largest pizza chain with $12 billion in global sales and more than 15,000 restaurants in 93 countries worldwide.
“Africa is an emerging continent with more than 1 billion people and endless possibilities for us to grow Pizza Hut over the long-term,’ said Scott Bergren, CEO, Pizza Hut and Chief Innovation Officer, Yum! Brands. “We’re pleased to bring Pizza Hut to South Africa and look forward to expanding the Brand in other African countries in the future. We’ve just scratched the surface of growth and we’re aggressively accelerating Pizza Hut’s development across the Delivery, Express, and Dine-In channels globally.’
The new Pizza Hut is located in Johannesburg, South Africa. The restaurant features a modern design, digital menu boards and free Wi-Fi as well as online ordering and delivery. In addition to Pizza Hut’s international favorites, the menu features popular items that appeal to local taste preferences with toppings like Boerewors sausage and pizza made with Peri-Peri sauce.
“South Africa is a huge opportunity for Pizza Hut with its rapidly growing middle class and progressive consumers who love pizza,’ said Randall Blackford, General Manager, Pizza Hut Africa. “We have a great team that knows how to do business in South Africa and we’re confident that it can become a sizeable business for Pizza Hut in the future.’
Pizza Hut plans to open more restaurants in South Africa in 2014 which will create approximately 200 local jobs. Over the next three years, the Company expects to open dozens of stores in the country, employing more than 2,500 people.
Blackford added, “We consider South Africa a stepping-stone into the rest of the Continent. Based on our Company’s experience successfully developing KFC in South Africa and other countries, we plan to use the same model to introduce Pizza Hut to Namibia, Angola and Zambia over the next year.’
Pizza Hut’s parent company, Yum! Brands which also owns KFC and Taco Bell, is investing in Africa and working with franchisees to expand its presence across the Continent. With more than one billion people, 53 countries, enormous mineral wealth and consumer spending predicted to reach $2.5 trillion by 2020, the Company sees an opportunity for growth in Africa over the next several years. South Africa is a key emerging market for Yum! Brands. It has an emerging economy and well-developed financial, energy and transportation sectors, a growing middle class and a large, youthful population of more than 52 million people. The Company and its franchisees have developed KFC into the dominant quick-service restaurant brand in South Africa with more than 735 restaurants. In addition, KFC has more than 250 restaurants in 16 other countries across Africa.
Yum! Brands is the worldwide leader in emerging markets with more than 14,000 restaurants and a nearly two-to-one advantage over the nearest competition. The Company opened over 1,950 new restaurants outside the U.S. in 2013 with 82 percent of the development occurring in emerging markets. With only two restaurants per million people in the top 10 emerging markets, compared to 58 restaurants per million in the U.S., Yum! believes it is on the ground floor of global growth. Yum! and its franchise partners plan to invest $10 Billion and have more than 20,000 restaurants in emerging markets by 2020.
ABOUT PIZZA HUT
Pizza Hut, a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM), delivers more pizza, pasta and wings than any other restaurant in the world. In 2014, Pizza Hut was named the Harris Poll Equitrend (R) Pizza Brand of the Year and was the recipient of the Innovation and Leadership in Advertising Award from the American Advertising Federation, 10(th) District. The only pizza company to be named a top ten franchise in 2013 by Entrepreneur Magazine, Pizza Hut began 56 years ago in Wichita, Kansas, and today operates more than 15,000 restaurants in more than 90 countries.
ABOUT YUM! BRANDS
Yum! Brands, Inc., based in Louisville, Kentucky, has over 40,000 restaurants in more than 125 countries and territories. Yum! is ranked #216 on the Fortune 500 List with revenues of over $13 billion and in 2014 was named among the top 100 Corporate Citizens by Corporate Responsibility Magazine. The Company’s restaurant brands – KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell – are the global leaders of the chicken, pizza and Mexican-style food categories. Outside the United States, the Yum! Brands system opened over five new restaurants per day, making it a leader in international retail development.
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