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Once, Pizza Hut was the favorite for groups and loved ones to feast on its unlimited dining experience, unlimited salad bar, and self-serve ice-cream.

But not as many customers are visiting the brand currently, and it is reducing a significant portion of its British restaurants after being bought out of administration for the second occasion this calendar year.

It was common to visit Pizza Hut when I was a child,” says one London shopper. “It was a tradition, you'd go on a Sunday – turn it into an event.” Today, aged 24, she says “it's fallen out of favor.”

In the view of young customer Martina, some of the very things Pizza Hut has been famous for since it started in the UK in the seventies are now not-so-hot.

“How they do their buffet and their salad station, it feels like they are cheapening on their quality and have inferior offerings... They provide so much food and you're like ‘How can they?’”

Because grocery costs have increased significantly, Pizza Hut's all-you-can-eat model has become very expensive to maintain. As have its locations, which are being sliced from 132 to just over 60.

The chain, like many others, has also experienced its operating costs go up. This spring, labor expenses increased due to higher minimum pay and an rise in employer social security payments.

A couple in their thirties and twenties mention they used to go at Pizza Hut for a date “occasionally”, but now they get delivery from another pizza brand and think Pizza Hut is “too expensive”.

According to your selection, Pizza Hut and Domino's prices are comparable, explains a food expert.

While Pizza Hut does offer off-premise options through delivery platforms, it is missing out to major competitors which focus exclusively to this market.

“Another pizza company has taken over the delivery market thanks to strong promotions and ongoing discounts that make customers feel like they're saving money, when in reality the original prices are on the higher side,” notes the analyst.

But for Chris and Joanne it is justified to get their special meal delivered to their door.

“We absolutely dine at home now rather than we eat out,” comments one of the diners, matching current figures that show a decline in people going to quick-service eateries.

During the summer months, informal dining venues saw a notable decrease in customers compared to the year before.

There is also a further alternative to ordered-in pies: the cook-at-home oven pizza.

A hospitality expert, head of leisure and hospitality at a major consultancy, notes that not only have grocery stores been providing good-standard ready-to-bake pizzas for a long time – some are even selling home-pizza ovens.

“Shifts in habits are also having an impact in the popularity of quick-service brands,” states Mr. Hawkley.

The rising popularity of protein-rich eating plans has driven sales at chicken shops, while hitting sales of carb-heavy pizza, he continues.

Since people dine out not as often, they may seek out a more upscale outing, and Pizza Hut's classic look with comfortable booths and red and white checked plastic table cloths can feel more dated than premium.

The growth of artisanal pizza places” over the last several years, such as boutique chains, has “dramatically shifted the public's perception of what quality pizza is,” explains the food expert.

“A thin, flavorful, gentle crust with a carefully curated additions, not the excessively rich, thick and crowded pizzas of the past. This, in my view, is what's resulted in Pizza Hut's downfall,” she comments.

“Why would anyone spend a high price on a small, substandard, disappointing pizza from a franchise when you can get a gorgeous, skillfully prepared Margherita for a lower price at one of the many authentic Italian pizzerias around the country?

“The decision is simple.”

A mobile pizza vendor, who operates a pizza van based in Suffolk says: “It's not that fallen out of love with pizza – they just want improved value.”

Dan says his mobile setup can offer premium pizza at accessible prices, and that Pizza Hut had difficulty because it was unable to evolve with evolving tastes.

From the perspective of Pizzarova in a UK location, the proprietor says the sector is diversifying but Pizza Hut has failed to offer anything fresh.

“There are now individual slices, regional varieties, new haven, fermented dough, Neapolitan, rectangular – it's a delightful challenge for a pie fan to explore.”

The owner says Pizza Hut “needs to reinvent itself” as newer generations don't have any sense of nostalgia or attachment to the chain.

Gradually, Pizza Hut's share has been sliced up and allocated to its trendier, more nimble competitors. To keep up its high labor and location costs, it would have to charge more – which industry analysts say is tough at a time when personal spending are tightening.

A senior executive of Pizza Hut's international markets said the acquisition aimed “to safeguard our dining experience and protect jobs where possible”.

The executive stated its key goal was to continue operating at the open outlets and takeaway hubs and to assist staff through the restructure.

But with large sums going into operating its locations, it likely can't afford to allocate significant resources in its delivery service because the market is “complicated and partnering with existing external services comes at a cost”, commentators say.

But, he adds, reducing expenses by leaving crowded locations could be a smart move to evolve.