Pizza Hut Israel

Pizza Hut Israel (פיצה האט)
Industry Fast-food restaurant
Founded Israel (1990)[1]
Headquarters Israel
Number of locations
 56 (September 2014)[2]
Area served
 Israel
Key people
 CEO - Udi Shamai
Products Pizza
Number of employees
 800[3]
Parent Pizza Hut
Website pizzahut.co.il

Pizza Hut Israel (Hebrew: פיצה האט‎) is the Israeli franchise of Pizza Hut with 56 branches as of September 2014.[2] Pizza Hut Israel is the largest pizza chain in Israel.[4]

History

Pizza Hut Israel opened their first restaurant in 1990, under the master franchisee Clal Chains, a subsidiary of Clal Industries.[5] Initially the chain opened many restaurants in Israeli and was very successful [5] It was in 1996, when Shlomo Duhoki through his company Penthouse paid the sum of USD 12M and bought the business from Clal Chains. In 2002 Pizza Hut Israel switch hands again, Dor Alon the Gas company takes over the business from Shlomo Duhoki. in 2005 Udi Shamai becomes a partner with Dor Alon holding 30% of the business, after 3 years, in 2008 Udi buys the rest of the shares from Dor through a company controlled by him named Tabasco Holdings.[6] By the time of this announcement Pizza Hut was down to 25 branches, from 33 branches in 2002.[6] Some of the branches that remained were moved from large sit down locations to smaller delivery focused locations. At the time of the acquisition the chain was down to 20 branches. Tabasco although retaining ownership of some locations, also began franchising other locations in Israel.[5]

During 2010, Niv Zilberstien joined Udi Shamai and became a Share holder in Tabasco Holdings.

In August 2013 Pizza Hut Israel released an Android and iPhone app to allow customers to track their order status in real time.[7][8]

In 2013 Pizza Hut Israel reached 50 branches,[5] and as of September 2014 there were 56 branches[5] Pizza Hut was operating 78 stores as of October 2016.

Kashrut

Pizza Hut Israel only carries kosher products. Most stores carry kashrut mehoderet, a higher level of kashrut.

Passover

A number of Pizza Hut Israel locations remain open during Passover. Due to the Chametz Law in Israel, no restaurant can serve any chametz product, including pizza, during Passover.[9]

In 2014, 18 branches remained open during Passover.[10]

Fare

Pizza Hut Israel offers a wide selection of food. Including the traditional deep dish, they also offer a thin crust pizza.[4] In addition to pizza, they offer salads, quiche, focaccia, and various desserts.[11]

Franchises in the West Bank

Many fast food chains in Judea and Samaria such as McDonald's have trouble getting franchises without going through the Israeli franchisee. Pizza Hut, however, did not feel this was needed and allowed the first Palestinian Arab-owned location to open in Ramallah in 2012.[12]

Targeted by anti-Israel activism

Pizza Hut has allowed Israeli franchises to open in areas within the Jewish areas of Judea and Samaria under the Israeli franchise agreement as well. Some anti-Israel activists have used this as an excuse to boycott Pizza Hut in protest.[13]

In May 2017 Pizza Hut Israel posted an advertisement on its Facebook page mocking terrorist leader and convicted murderer Marwan Barghouti, who is currently on a hunger strike demanding special privileges in Israeli prisons for Palestinian Arab terrorists. Footage was recently released in the Israeli media which exposed Barghouti breaking his hunger strike by eating a candy bar and other food in his cell. The Pizza Hut ad made fun of this by photoshopping a Pizza Hut box on the floor of his cell and a slice of pizza in the sink, along with the text “Barghouti, if you’re going to break the hunger strike, isn’t pizza better?” Barghouti is currently serving five life sentences for murder and terrorism for his role in directing suicide attacks against Israeli civilians during the Second Intifada. The ad enraged a few anti-Israel activists on Twitter, prompting them to call for a boycott of Pizza Hut. In response, Pizza Hut apologized profusely for offending those who revere a convicted murderer and terrorist, and they deleted the ad and fired the Israeli PR firm who created the ad.[14] In turn, Pizza Hut was criticized for caving and appeasing those who admire convicted murderers.[15]

In 2013, CEO and owner Udi Shamai appeared on the third episode of the first season of Undercover Boss Israel.[16]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Pizza Hut – Retrieved 2 September 2014
  2. 1 2 Branches – Retrieved 2 September 2014
  3. ↑ 800 עובדי פיצה האט יקבלו העלאת שכר – Retrieved 2 September 2014
  4. 1 2 About – Retrieved 2 September 2014
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Pizza Hut – Retrieved 2 September 2014
  6. 1 2 Pizza Hut revamps to survive – Retrieved 2 September 2014
  7. ↑ Google Play Store – Retrieved 2 September 2014
  8. ↑ iTunes – Retrieved 2 September 2014
  9. ↑ 56% of Israelis say Chametz Law necessary – Retrieved 2 September 2014
  10. ↑ Passover – Retrieved 2 September 2014
  11. ↑ Full Menu – Retrieved 2 September 2014
  12. ↑ American fried chicken comes to the Palestinian territories – Retrieved 2 September 2014
  13. ↑ Boycott Campaign: Pizza Hut – Retrieved 2 September 2014.
  14. ↑ "Pizza Hut fires Israeli PR firm over ad mocking Palestinian hunger striker," The Times of Israel 11 May 2007.
  15. ↑ "The Day Humor Died: Pizza Hut Apologizes for Making Fun of Arab Terrorist," The Jewish Press 10 May 2017.
  16. ↑ Undercover Boss - Retrieved 10 September 2014
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