Recently, Pizza Hut (YUM) has offered some new changes to its brand.
It even steered away from Pizza Hut to "Pasta" Hut with new menu items: Oven-Baked Chicken Alfredo Pasta, Oven-Baked Italian Meats Pasta, Oven Baked Cheesy Alfredo Pasta, and Oven-Baked Veggie Pasta. And as you can probably tell, they are all oven-baked pastas.
Not only did pastas become available at the pizza joint, so did an innovative partnership with Hershey Company (HSY). The partnership led to the creation of three heavenly, chocolate-rich desserts: Hershey's Lava Cake, Double/Triple Chocolate Brownie, and a Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie.
Pizza Hut South Korea also released an odd menu item called the "pizza bowl," which, according to Veronika Bondarenko for TheStreet, consists of a "pizza crust [which] is made to look like a vessel filled with boneless chicken, pineapple and mozzarella cheese."
But menu additions aren't all Pizza Hut has on the menu. The company has announced a new partnership and a new ingredient option, both of which have to do with the dairy industry.
Pizza Hut Partners with Dairy Farmers of America
On August 10, 2022, Yum! Brands announced that Pizza Hut will partner with Dairy Farmers of America (DFA).
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Dairy Farmers of America is a family-owned business with over 11,500 farms. DFA also works with dairy suppliers, technology, and data all pertaining to the dairy industry as a whole and how it can better reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. All of this is done in an effort to fight global warming.
The partnership will include a joint effort between Pizza Hut, dairy farmers, and DFA to monitor and manage any contributions the dairy industry has with climate change. This includes farm-level greenhouse gas emissions and an energy footprint.
Both of these components will be monitored by the Farmers Assuring Responsible Management and Environmental Stewardship (FARM ES) over the next three years. Pizza Hut aims to source 50% of the dairy needed to create its pizza from farms which are enrolled in the FARM ES program by the year 2025.
Penny Shaheen, Head of Food Innovation and Technology at Pizza Hut, regards this program as a big step for humanity: "With this sustainability initiative, we’re able to utilize technology along with our dairy partners in a way that helps the environment while still delivering the iconic taste that pizza lovers have come to expect from our offerings.”
This initiative works as a smaller piece to Yum! Brands and Dairy Farmers of America's sustainability efforts. Yum aims to decrease GHG emissions 46% by 2030 with a focus on restaurants and supply chain and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
Dairy Farmers of America also has a goal of 30% GHG emissions reduction across supply chain by 2030. DFA is also part of an industry-wide collaboration through the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy to be greenhouse neutral or better by 2050.
Pizza Hut's New Vegan Option: Vegan Cheese
Pizza Hut announced on August 11, 2022, that it will be adding Vegan Cheese to its delivery menu.
Pizza Hut
This addition comes following a a demand for meat-free items, according to Pizza Hut UK: “We know meat-eaters and vegetarians alike are increasingly looking for more plant-based alternatives to our pizza menus, so we are continuously searching to bring delicious innovations to the table.”
Unfortunately, vegan cheese will only be added to Pizza Huts in the United Kingdom for dine-in and delivery at this time. This change comes after a trial run completed over the summer, which proved a success for vegans and dairy-free eaters.
Currently, there is no such thing as vegan cheese in United States' Pizza Huts. However, keep an eye out, as it could come soon depending on the success rate it has for the UK.
