QCOSTARICA – With Costa Rica the second “international market”, Pizza Hut recently celebrated the opening of restaurant in the 100th country.
And to celebrate the event Pizza Hut employees and several professional guides, hiked for six days to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro to set the Guinness World Records title for the highest altitude pizza delivery on land at a height of 19,341 feet.
Pizza Hut is the world’s largest pizza restaurant company.
The second Pizza Hut restaurant outside the United States was located in Costa Rica. The first international market was Canada.
Pizza Hut Costa Rica opened its doors in 1972 in downtown San Jose. The franchise was acquired in 1974 by Costa Rican Milton Gutiérrez Gamboa* and founded Pizza Hut Costa Rica. Currently the franchise operates in the country 20 restaurants, 22 takeout and delivery, 13 fast food outlets (in malls) and 4 mobile units.
Pizza Hut Costa Rica is the largest Pizza Hut franchise in Central America.
Back to the celebrations. General Manager of Pizza Hut Africa, Randall Blackford, who part of the Mt. Kilimanjaro climb and the team shared a large pepperoni pizza at the top of the mountain in celebration of the Company’s continued global expansion. An adjudicator from Guinness World Records was on-site in Tanzania to verify that Pizza Hut in fact set the record for the highest altitude pizza delivery on land.
Not only did the team set a Guinness World Records title, they also raised money for the Msasani Primary School in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, as a way to show their commitment to supporting the communities where they operate. The money will provide desperately needed upgrades to the school for the 1,300 students and provide training for their teachers.
“We are extremely proud to be the first pizza restaurant company to be serving in 100 countries,” said Milind Pant, President, Pizza Hut International. “There has never been a more exciting time to be working at Pizza Hut. We are the most-loved and fastest-growing pizza restaurant company in the world and look forward to continuing to share our high-quality, affordable pizzas made by our passionate team members with consumers everywhere.
“We are thrilled to bring Pizza Hut to Tanzania and believe there is no better way to celebrate our 100th country milestone than by setting a Guinness World Records title for the highest pizza delivery on land to Mt. Kilimanjaro.”
Pizza Hut, which has more than 16,000 restaurants worldwide and 2015 sales totaling over US$12 billion, is the first and only pizza restaurant company to have locations in 100 countries. Pizza Hut sees tremendous opportunity for growth over the next several years in Africa and is investing and working with franchisees to expand its presence across the Continent. Pizza Hut, which includes company and franchise restaurants, is currently present in nearly 10 countries on the Continent with more than 100 restaurants and expects to be in more than 20 countries with more than 500 restaurants by 2020.
“We are excited to celebrate our 100th country milestone with the opening of our restaurant in Tanzania,” said Randall Blackford, General Manager, Pizza Hut Africa. “Tanzania is an exciting emerging market in Africa and we believe there is great potential for accelerated growth. We are grateful for our franchise partnership with Dough Works, Ltd., who has worked tirelessly to bring the Pizza Hut vision to life in this country and we are looking forward to years of success.”
The new Pizza Hut is located in Dar Es Salaam and features a modern design, digital menu boards, a children’s play area and provides seating for 90 people.
Pizza Hut markets around the world also joined the celebration of the 100th country milestone by making special deliveries to historical landmarks in other countries where Pizza Hut operates. You can follow the journey of the memorable pizza deliveries at #PizzaHut100.
The busiest Pizza Hut restaurant in the world is located inside the Sao Paulo Airport in Brazil.
The five biggest markets for Pizza Hut outside the U.S. are China, UK, India, Malaysia and Indonesia. The most popular Pizza Hut pizza in the world is pepperoni.
Other fun facts about Pizza Hut include:
- The original Pizza Hut opened May 31, 1958, in Wichita, Kansas.
- More transactions are received via PizzaHut.com than any other pizza website in the world.
- A Pizza Hut pizza was the first product ever purchased over the internet (in 1994).
- Pizza Hut once delivered pizza to space.
- The Pizza Hut menu has been translated into more than 35 languages.
- Pizza Hut employs more than 300,000 team members worldwide.
* Milton Gutiérrez Gamboa died in a traffic accident in the area of Playas del Coco in January 1996 in a head-on collision.
