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View media item 344206NEW YORK -- Pizza Hut has found a new way to feed
Americans more cheese -- a pizza crust made of little cheese-stuffed
bread bowls.
The chain on Wednesday is introducing a new pizza
that comes surrounded by 16 semi-circles of cheese that can be pulled
off and eaten separately. The "Crazy Cheesy Crust," which will be
available for several weeks, isn't the first time Pizza Hut has
incorporated cheese into its crusts.
In 1995, the chain introduced
its Stuffed Crust Pizza as a limited-time offer but the pies were such a
hit that they soon became a permanent part of the menu.
Even as
fast-food chains increasingly look to cater to health-conscious diners,
Pizza Hut's latest invention shows Americans still have an appetite for
indulgent new creations. Burger King, for example, recently rolled out
its first turkey burger as part of a limited-time spring menu. But the
menu also included a burger stuffed with bacon and cheddar cheese, as
well as tater tots stuffed with bacon and sweet onions.
Pizza Hut
has also offered variations of the cheese-stuffed crust with pepperoni
and other toppings hidden inside. Fast-food fanatics may also notice
that the latest pizza has a similar shape to the chain's "Crown Crust"
pie that was introduced in the Middle East a year ago. That pie, which
comes surrounded by mini-cheeseburgers, isn't available in the U.S. but
images of it have circulated widely online. In Japan and Thailand, Pizza
Hut has also offered pizzas with hot dog-stuffed crusts.
Doug
Terfehr, a spokesman for Pizza Hut, noted that the cheeseburger and hot
dog crusts worked overseas because people often group together those
foods and pizza as being American, so combining them makes sense. He
said the Crazy Cheesy Crust was developed specifically for the U.S.
market.
A pepperoni slice of the new pie has 390 calories and 20
grams of fat. By comparison, a slice of the regular hand-tossed
pepperoni is listed at 310 calories and 13 grams of fat. A pepperoni
slice from the Stuffed Crust pie has 340 calories and 16 grams of fat.
With one topping, the Crazy Cheesy Crust is $3 more per pie than Pizza Hut's regular $10 pie.
The
new pies come just ahead of the Final Four games this weekend, when
pizza sales typically spike. In February, Pizza Hut also introduced its
"pizza sliders" as a way to lift sales after Super Bowl weekend, when
people might have pizza fatigue.
Pizza Hut has 6,400 locations
nationwide and is a unit of Yum Brands Inc., which also owns KFC and
Taco Bell. Last year, sales at Pizza Hut restaurants open at least a
year rose 3 percent after flat growth in the previous year.
The metric is a key gauge of health because it strips out the impact of newly opened and closed locations.
Americans more cheese -- a pizza crust made of little cheese-stuffed
bread bowls.
The chain on Wednesday is introducing a new pizza
that comes surrounded by 16 semi-circles of cheese that can be pulled
off and eaten separately. The "Crazy Cheesy Crust," which will be
available for several weeks, isn't the first time Pizza Hut has
incorporated cheese into its crusts.
In 1995, the chain introduced
its Stuffed Crust Pizza as a limited-time offer but the pies were such a
hit that they soon became a permanent part of the menu.
Even as
fast-food chains increasingly look to cater to health-conscious diners,
Pizza Hut's latest invention shows Americans still have an appetite for
indulgent new creations. Burger King, for example, recently rolled out
its first turkey burger as part of a limited-time spring menu. But the
menu also included a burger stuffed with bacon and cheddar cheese, as
well as tater tots stuffed with bacon and sweet onions.
Pizza Hut
has also offered variations of the cheese-stuffed crust with pepperoni
and other toppings hidden inside. Fast-food fanatics may also notice
that the latest pizza has a similar shape to the chain's "Crown Crust"
pie that was introduced in the Middle East a year ago. That pie, which
comes surrounded by mini-cheeseburgers, isn't available in the U.S. but
images of it have circulated widely online. In Japan and Thailand, Pizza
Hut has also offered pizzas with hot dog-stuffed crusts.
Doug
Terfehr, a spokesman for Pizza Hut, noted that the cheeseburger and hot
dog crusts worked overseas because people often group together those
foods and pizza as being American, so combining them makes sense. He
said the Crazy Cheesy Crust was developed specifically for the U.S.
market.
A pepperoni slice of the new pie has 390 calories and 20
grams of fat. By comparison, a slice of the regular hand-tossed
pepperoni is listed at 310 calories and 13 grams of fat. A pepperoni
slice from the Stuffed Crust pie has 340 calories and 16 grams of fat.
With one topping, the Crazy Cheesy Crust is $3 more per pie than Pizza Hut's regular $10 pie.
The
new pies come just ahead of the Final Four games this weekend, when
pizza sales typically spike. In February, Pizza Hut also introduced its
"pizza sliders" as a way to lift sales after Super Bowl weekend, when
people might have pizza fatigue.
Pizza Hut has 6,400 locations
nationwide and is a unit of Yum Brands Inc., which also owns KFC and
Taco Bell. Last year, sales at Pizza Hut restaurants open at least a
year rose 3 percent after flat growth in the previous year.
The metric is a key gauge of health because it strips out the impact of newly opened and closed locations.