Invention Reinvented: Pizza Hut® Adds To Legendary Stuffed Crust Line With New 3-Cheese Stuffed Crust Pizza

PLANO, Texas, Oct. 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Nearly 20 years ago Pizza Hut reinvented the way many people eat pizza by introducing Stuffed Crust Pizza. Now, the brand that made it cool to eat a slice of pizza backwards is expanding its Stuffed Crust line with the new 3-Cheese Stuffed Crust Pizza.

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The 3-Cheese Stuffed Crust Pizza will be a permanent addition to the Pizza Hut menu—the first new pizza to be added full-time since the original Stuffed Crust in 1995.

"When it comes to innovation in the pizza category, Pizza Hut leads while our competitors follow," said Kurt Kane, Chief Marketing Officer at Pizza Hut. "The Pizza Hut Stuffed Crust Pizza is one of the most iconic products ever introduced in the restaurant industry. People loved it and continue to love it, which is why we're so excited about the development of our new 3-Cheese Stuffed Crust Pizza. Our 3-Cheese has a unique look and taste when compared to the original. Our innovation team has been perfecting a new permanent addition to our menu for a long time – and we nailed it." 

With a blend of white cheddar, mozzarella and provolone cheeses, the new Pizza Hut 3-Cheese Stuffed Crust Pizza builds on the brand's legacy of crust innovation. The original Stuffed Crust Pizza was an immediate success, generating more than $300 million in sales in its first year. The product is viewed as one of the most successful innovations in the history of the pizza category.  

Since then, Pizza Hut has experimented with Stuffed Crust in other forms, including the recent Crazy Cheesy Crust creation. Crazy Cheesy Crust featured a blend of five cheeses inside 16 dough pockets as its outer edge. In previous years, Pizza Hut has introduced the Ultimate Stuffed Crust, which included toppings rolled up inside the pizza crust and Stuffed Crust Gold, which included cheddar cheese.

The Pizza Hut food innovation team works tirelessly to come up with new flavor combinations, crust types and sauces to satisfy the brand's loyal consumers. According to Pizza Hut Executive Chef, Wiley Bates III, the inspiration for 3-Cheese Stuffed Crust Pizza was all about giving consumers a little (or a lot) more of what they already love.

"The Pizza Hut original Stuffed Crust Pizza was an immediate hit and has some of the most passionate and loyal fans of any restaurant product," Bates said. "Our new 3-Cheese Stuffed Crust takes everything that people love about Stuffed Crust and adds even more flavor. Combine that flavor punch with our choice ingredients and we feel we've landed on a recipe that pizza lovers will absolutely go crazy for, just like the original."

3-Cheese Tease
In the weeks leading up to the nationwide rollout, Pizza Hut will reward three cities that have shown the most love for Stuffed Crust through the years with a 3-Cheese Tease – an early taste of the new 3-Cheese Stuffed Crust Pizza. Pizza Hut records show that the following restaurants have sold more original Stuffed Crust Pizzas than any other restaurants in America:

• 3094a Story Road, San Jose, Calif.
• 3052 Lancaster Drive NE, Salem, Ore.
• 9200 New Hampshire Ave., Silver Spring, Md.

Beginning today, these three Pizza Hut restaurants will be the only places in America to get the all-new 3-Cheese Stuffed Crust Pizza, a special "thanks" to customers for making them the nation's hub for Stuffed Crust devotion. The select restaurants will offer 3-Cheese Stuffed Crust at its regular menu price of $12 for a large one-topping. For a special celebration, customers can visit one of the 3-Cheese Tease locations from 3-4 p.m. today for a free slice of the new menu item (while supplies last).

In addition, Pizza Hut is inviting followers on Twitter to hashtag their #[CityST] and #3CheeseStuffed for a chance to have their town be the next to get it. The challenge began today at 12:00 a.m. ET and ends at 11:59 p.m. ET this Wednesday, Oct. 9. After tweeting their votes, fans can track their city's progress on a digital heat map at 3CheeseStuffed.com. The city with the most tweets will be announced Thursday, Oct. 10 and Pizza Hut will select one restaurant in that market which will offer 3-Cheese Stuffed Crust beginning Monday, Oct. 14.

Pizza Hut first unveiled the 3-Cheese Stuffed Crust Pizza on Saturday, Oct. 5 at an exclusive party hosted by Pizza Hut and Viacom Music Group (MTV, VH1 and CMT) at a popular music event in Austin, Texas. Select media and guests had a chance to sample the product while celebrating up-and-coming music talents as part of Pizza Hut and Viacom's Discover Great program. 

To order your favorite Pizza Hut menu items or keep up with the latest brand happenings, check out PizzaHut.com or follow the company on Facebook and Twitter.

About Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut, a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM), delivers more pizza, pasta and wings than any other restaurant in the world. In 2013, Pizza Hut was named the Harris Poll Equitrend® Pizza Brand of the Year and was the recipient of the Innovation and Leadership in Advertising Award from the American Advertising Federation, 10^th District. The only pizza company to be named a top ten franchise in 2013 by Entrepreneur Magazine, Pizza Hut began 55 years ago in Wichita, Kansas, and today operates more than 10,000 restaurants in more than 90 countries. Pizza Hut also is the proprietor of the BOOK IT! ® Program, which is a long-standing children's literacy program used in more than 620,000 classrooms nationwide. To order online from Pizza Hut, visit PizzaHut.com.

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SOURCE Pizza Hut