Pizza Hut, which claims to be the world’s largest pizza restaurant company, plans to grow its presence in Australia from the 270 units now trading. Yum Restaurants International, a subsidiary of the Dallas, Texas based parent company Yum Brands, manages the pizza chain in Australia and has franchise opportunities across all States.

Andy Masood, head of development and supply chain, told Franchising “The size of the market is in the vicinity of 500 stores and our aim is to reach the full market penetration within 8 to 10 years. Pizza HutÕs operations team’s foremost focus is to increase the customer experience of great product and great efficient service for every customer transaction. The ultimate objective is for every Australian household to be able to experience a great Pizza Hut experience.

Masood said Pizza Hut has invested heavily in talent and put in place a very experienced leadership team led by dedicated CEO Graeme Huston, newly appointed to propel the brand forward in Australia and New Zealand.

“It is of fundamental importance that the unit economics of the new stores is compelling investment for our franchise partners from return on capital invested stand point and the growth is sustainable and built on a solid business model,” he added.

The pizza brand recently has seen a sales boost from market innovations and standard menu favourites such as Pan Pizza and Stuffed Crust.

There are more than 180 franchisees nationally in the Pizza Hut network; in the US there are more than 7,500 outlets; outside the US more than 5,600 stores operate in 97 countries and territories.