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Once, Pizza Hut was the go-to for groups and loved ones to enjoy its eat-as-much-as-you-like offering, endless salad selection, and ice cream with toppings.

Yet not as many patrons are visiting the restaurant currently, and it is shutting down a significant portion of its UK outlets after being bought out of administration for the second instance this calendar year.

“We used to go Pizza Hut when I was a child,” notes a young adult. “It was a tradition, you'd go on a Sunday – spend the whole day there.” However, at present, as a young adult, she states “it's fallen out of favor.”

In the view of 23-year-old Martina, certain features Pizza Hut has been famous for since it launched in the UK in the mid-20th century are now less appealing.

“The manner in which they do their all-you-can-eat and their salad bar, it feels like they are lowering standards and have reduced quality... They're giving away so much food and you're like ‘How is that possible?’”

As ingredient expenses have risen sharply, Pizza Hut's buffet-style service has become increasingly pricey to maintain. As have its restaurants, which are being reduced from a large number to just over 60.

The chain, like many others, has also experienced its operating costs increase. In April this year, staffing costs rose due to rises in minimum wages and an rise in employer taxes.

Two diners explain they used to go at Pizza Hut for a date “every now and then”, but now they choose another pizza brand and think Pizza Hut is “too expensive”.

According to your order, Pizza Hut and Domino's prices are similar, says a food expert.

While Pizza Hut has pickup and delivery through delivery platforms, it is losing out to larger chains which solely cater to this market.

“The rival chain has managed to dominate the delivery market thanks to intensive advertising and frequent offers that make consumers feel like they're getting a bargain, when in reality the original prices are relatively expensive,” explains the expert.

However for these customers it is justified to get their evening together brought to their home.

“We predominantly have meals at home now more than we eat out,” says Joanne, reflecting current figures that show a decrease in people frequenting informal dining spots.

During the summer months, informal dining venues saw a six percent decline in diners compared to the year before.

There is also a further alternative to pizza from eateries: the cook-at-home oven pizza.

An industry leader, head of leisure and hospitality at a major consultancy, notes that not only have retailers been providing high-quality oven-ready pizzas for years – some are even promoting home-pizza ovens.

“Evolving preferences are also playing a factor in the success of quick-service brands,” comments Mr. Hawkley.

The rising popularity of protein-rich eating plans has increased sales at grilled chicken brands, while affecting sales of high-carbohydrate options, he notes.

Since people visit restaurants not as often, they may prefer a more premium experience, and Pizza Hut's American-diner style with booth seating and red and white checked plastic table cloths can feel more dated than upmarket.

The “explosion of artisanal pizza places” over the last decade and a half, for example boutique chains, has “completely altered the general opinion of what quality pizza is,” says the culinary analyst.

“A thin, flavorful, gentle crust with a carefully curated additions, not the massively greasy, heavy and overloaded pizzas of the past. That, I think, is what's resulted in Pizza Hut's downfall,” she says.

“What person would spend nearly eighteen pounds on a tiny, mediocre, unsatisfying pizza from a chain when you can get a beautiful, masterfully-made classic pizza for under a tenner at one of the many authentic Italian pizzerias around the country?

“It's an easy choice.”

Dan Puddle, who runs a pizza van based in Suffolk says: “The issue isn’t that lost interest in pizza – they just want better pizza for their money.”

Dan says his mobile setup can offer gourmet pizza at reasonable rates, and that Pizza Hut struggled because it was unable to evolve with new customer habits.

From the perspective of a small pizza brand in a city in southwest England, the founder says the pizza market is diversifying but Pizza Hut has not provided anything innovative.

“You now have individual slices, regional varieties, new haven, sourdough, wood-fired, rectangular – it's a heavenly minefield for a pie fan to explore.”

Jack says Pizza Hut “needs to reinvent itself” as the youth don't have any sense of nostalgia or loyalty to the chain.

Gradually, Pizza Hut's share has been fragmented and distributed to its fresher, faster alternatives. To maintain its expensive staffing and restaurants, it would have to charge more – which commentators say is difficult at a time when household budgets are tightening.

A senior executive of Pizza Hut's global operations said the acquisition aimed “to safeguard our customer service and retain staff where possible”.

He said its first focus was to keep running at the surviving locations and takeaway hubs and to support colleagues through the transition.

Yet with large sums going into running its restaurants, it probably cannot to invest too much in its off-premise division because the sector is “difficult and using existing third-party platforms comes at a expense”, analysts say.

Still, experts suggest, cutting its costs by leaving oversaturated towns and city centres could be a effective strategy to evolve.